


a little taste of heaven

by khrysallis



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 14:20:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3771445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khrysallis/pseuds/khrysallis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>there is no place for the complexities of other emotions apart from lust and desire in a strip club. unfortunately, someone did not get the memo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a little taste of heaven

**Author's Note:**

> genderbent baekhyun, jongin, luhan, and sehun. brief use of toy. mentions of past abusive relationship.

  
_I beg you, I beg you, please look into my eyes just once.  
Even if you hate it, even if you hate it, please hold my hands just this once._  
_  
Jaejoong - 그랬지_  


  
  
  
  
  
Kyungsoo’s heart thumps in sync with the heavy bass music which greets his ears as he makes his way through the too-many patrons at the club. It’s a place he least expects himself to be at, but here he was, walking into the newly-opened strip club in Hongdae called the Constellations, upon recommendation from his close friend and business partner Kim Jongdae. Jongdae had told him about the place several nights ago, when he had found Kyungsoo seated at the bar counter of one of their usual joints, appearing very bored as he sipped on his Vodka. Kyungsoo loves to party, that much is true, but there was only so long before he grew bored of the repetitiveness of his clubbing life.   
  
The place still smells freshly of paint, distinct even through the thick smog of cigarette smoke permeating the air. Kyungsoo wrinkles his nose a little at the invasive smell, his eyes darting around to take in his surroundings as he walks up to the bar to get himself some beer. The club is a little different from the others he was used to going, with multiple poles erected on the main stage in the middle of the club and crystal curtains dangling from the ceiling, scattering the stage lights into colourful fragments around the establishment and giving it a somewhat exotic look. Perfect. Kyungsoo could really use a change of scenes.   
  
With a drink in hand, Kyungsoo finds a spot near the main stage, where several small tables are arranged around it. He had barely made himself comfortable on the suede armchair when the lights go out, and the emcee for the night steps out under a lone spotlight to start the show.  
  
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Constellations! On behalf of the owner, I thank you all for your patronage. I assure you, you will not go home disappointed tonight!” He booms into the microphone, earning catcalls and applause from the floor. Kyungsoo good naturedly claps along, his heartbeat speeding up in anticipation. “Our star of the night is a pretty little thing. You may find that she looks innocent at first, but I can assure you that she is anything  _but_  that.” Then his voice drops dangerously low, just a little above a bare whisper. “Be careful of your hearts now, or she might run away with it. I give you…  _Baekhyun_.”   
  
Kyungsoo’s pupils dilate when the room goes dark for a moment, before constricting again when the red and pink lights come on. There’s a lone figure on stage, leaning against one of the metal poles, and Kyungsoo sucks in a deep breath at the sight. With the stage lights behind her, all he can see is the silhouette of a woman, the lines of her body perfectly accentuated. Her head is pressed against the pole with a slight uptilt, giving everyone a clear view of the slope of her nose, the way her lips are parted slightly as she draws in rhythmical breaths, the outline of her neck that makes Kyungsoo lick at his lips. She’s bracing one of her legs against the pole too, and Kyungsoo finds himself appreciating the way her foot is wrapped in her four-inch killer stilettos.   
  
Kyungsoo blinks again when the spotlight’s angle changes, this time shining directly upon Baekhyun and giving the crowd a full view of her face. The emcee wasn’t lying when he said that Baekhyun might appear innocent to some – perhaps when her face was bare of any makeup which accentuated her cheekbones. Small, almond-shaped eyes framed her face, lined with thick eyeliner that transformed them and made her dangerously attractive tonight; Kyungsoo sees past that and finds the subtly teasing light dancing about in her eyes. He’s instantly mesmerised. Her lips are painted sinfully red, as if inviting one to take a bite, her skin flawlessly smooth and fair, her petite body covered with a fiery red leather jacket, legs wrapped in skin-tight leather pants that showed off her curves and hugged her ass nicely.  
  
Kyungsoo gulps as his eyes traced her body. He has seen many attractive women in his life before, but Baekhyun is a level above the rest.   
  
He was too preoccupied with staring at Baekhyun that he startles a little when a sensual club hit booms from the speakers, but quickly, his attention is dragged back to the lone dancer on stage. He watches in awe as Baekhyun pulls herself up on the pole, sliding one foot down the length of her other leg and kicking her stiletto off before repeating the process with the other one. She then hooks a leg around the metal, arching her upper body forward as she spins herself around the pole effortlessly with one hand, while the other tugs at the collar of her jacket, pulling the fabric aside to reveal prominent collarbones and white expanse of skin. The jacket goes off after several moves, her pants following soon after, and Kyungsoo hums lowly in appreciation at the sight of her clad only in a red thong and a lacy red bra that shows off her ample breasts.   
  
Kyungsoo finds it impossible to tear his eyes off Baekhyun, her every move compelling for him to follow after her. Something glints under the incandescent strobe lights, and it’s only then that Kyungsoo notices the star-shaped accessory draped over the back of her right hand, providing the perfect embellishment to her long, beautiful fingers. Kyungsoo licks at his suddenly-dry lips when Baekhyun presses her hand flat against her stomach, before slowly dragging it up her body, circling around her breasts before her fingers trail up to her neck, forefinger ending up caught between red lips, and she tangles her other hand in her wine red head of hair, fanning it out before letting it fall over her shoulders.   
  
The temperature of the room feels as though it has shot up by ten degrees by this time. Kyungsoo grimaces when he feels the sweat rolling down his neck, and he tugs at the collar of his black dress shirt to allow himself to breathe easier. But he’s stunned mid-action, his mouth going decidedly dry when Baekhyun hooks a finger through the waistband of her thong, pulling the fabric down her hip yet not nearly  _enough_  as she grinds her ass against the pole.   
  
He thinks his jeans are getting a little too tight for comfort when Baekhyun does a particularly seductive body wave while sucking obscenely on her two fingers, giving Kyungsoo a full view down her cleavage as she did so. His dick twitches a little as he wonders how it would feel to have those sinful lips of hers sealed around his dick, her tongue dipping into his slit, how she would look on her knees, with her eyelashes casting pretty shadows over her cheekbones as Kyungsoo watches her suck him off.  
  
Kyungsoo doesn’t even realise how distracted he had been by his own thoughts, until he feels the soft pads of  _somebody else’s_  fingers dragging down his jaw. He looks up in surprise, throat working to swallow that invisible lump stuck within when Baekhyun’s face greets his sight. She has a knowing smile pulling at her rouge-painted lips as her fingers slide down his neck to the front of his chest, leaving a heated trail behind that sends more blood down south. Had he been ogling so blatantly?   
  
His breath catches again when Baekhyun begins to circle him; each step she takes is in sync with the beats of the music still pulsing through the speakers, her fingers never leaving Kyungsoo’s body. Kyungsoo knows that he should probably feel self-conscious right about now, when the eyes of the other patrons are all on him and Baekhyun, but he can’t really bring himself to care. It’s as though his surroundings have melted away from them, leaving only him and Baekhyun in their own world, teasing, anticipating.   
  
Kyungsoo stiffens when Baekhyun suddenly hugs him from behind, her hands sliding from his shoulders down to his chest, applying pressure along the way. He can feel the way her warm breaths fan across his right cheek, the way the ends of her hair dips past his collar and tickles the skin there, the way she’s pressing her breasts into his back, the gesture provocative in every manner.   
  
“I see you’re a little… bothered, sir.” She whispers into his ear then, the rich, sultry timbre of her voice sending delicious shivers down his spine.  
  
“Kyungsoo,” he corrects her, not at all used to being called with something else, but he tenses again when his gaze flickers down, only to find her slender fingers working at his shirt buttons. Panicking, Kyungsoo’s hands flew up in an attempt to stop her, but then there’s a laugh in his ear, breathy, teasing, and her fingers are gone, leaving behind two buttons undone and the ghost of her touch still lingering over his chest.   
  
His mind spins at how fast she was, and when Kyungsoo looks again, Baekhyun’s standing in front of him, and, with a smirk, she raises one of her legs and steps on Kyungsoo’s thigh, giving him an upclose view of her clothed clit for a split second before she holds his chin between her thumb and forefinger, bringing his gaze upwards to meet hers. The smile she’s wearing is alluring; she evidently knows how attractive she is, how she’s commandeering his attention right now, how bothered he is from the mere sight of her. There’s a fierce sense of defiance burning within him – Kyungsoo doesn’t take to such blatant teasing too well. He wonders how she would look, pinned beneath him on the bed, with filthy moans and desperate pleads for him to  _‘please fuck me harder’_  tumbling off her lips feverishly as he pounds into her relentlessly.   
  
Baekhyun pulls him back to present time with her pretty fingers in his hair, and before Kyungsoo can even respond, she has made herself comfortable on his lap, trapping him between her body and the armchair. He’s suddenly made aware of the fact that his dick is separated from her cunt by only three layers of fabric, never mind that her lacy thong barely provides any coverage at all, and an embarrassing moan escapes his throat when Baekhyun starts grinding in earnest against his crotch, getting him harder than he already was.  
  
“What’s wrong?” Baekhyun laughs as she noses at his neck, knowing that he’s the only person who could hear her right now. “Can’t take a little lap dance?” She has assumed a challenging intonation now, picking deliberately at Kyungsoo’s pride. He grits his teeth when she presses her chest flush against his, her hips still rolling relentlessly against his, slowly, torturously.   
  
“It’s not much of a fair game now, is it?” Kyungsoo laughs back, breathless from the stimulation, but he’s determined not to give in to her taunts. He casts a look at his arms, which are currently being pinned against the armrest of the chair he’s in. He tries bucking his hips upwards to get more friction,  _anything_  at all, but Baekhyun is having none of that. She spreads her legs wide open, setting them firmly on the floor on either side of him, and pins his thighs down that way, earning a frustrated whine from him. There’s nothing he can possible do but watch as Baekhyun loses herself to the music once more, gyrating on his lap sensuously.   
  
Kyungsoo isn’t really one for public sex, but at the moment, all he can think about is how much he wants her, right the fuck now.   
  
He vaguely thinks, through his haze of lust, how he’s never been  _this_  frustrated before while still in a fully-dressed state, and his fingers curl against the material of the armchair when he feels his climax building up steadily, the familiar heat settling low in his stomach. He’s so,  _so_  close to his release,  _so close_ –  
  
And then the weight on his lap suddenly disappears, leaving his dick painfully hard in his pants and denying him the release he’s desperately craving for. Kyungsoo’s eyes fly wide open, bewildered at the sudden loss of contact from the delicious heat, just in time to see Baekhyun arch away from him like a feline, furnished with a wink, her butt thrusted up into the air while her upper body is still hovering over him. She leans in with a smile and leaves a peck on his cheek – the action is chaste, but whatever that followed isn’t.   
  
Kyungsoo finds himself sucking in a deep breath when she nibbles on his earlobe and whispers  _‘call me’_  into his ear, the oxygen filling his lungs a little intrusive after he’d deprived them for God-knows-how-long. Just as she pulls away to tease another customer, though, her hand slides right down his front, and Kyungsoo’s breath hitches for the umpteenth time that night when she stuffs a piece of paper down his belt, even taking care to accidentally-on-purpose brush her fingers over his still-throbbing cock.   
  
Kyungsoo darts off to the restroom the moment Baekhyun is out of sight, desperate to finish off what she’d started. The paper bearing a set of neatly-printed numbers sits primly in his jeans pocket as he brings himself to completion, part of his heart left behind in the hands of the owner of the paper without him being any wiser.   
  
  


\--

  
  
Two nights after his initial visit, Kyungsoo finds himself on the street where Constellations is located on yet again. He hadn’t planned on venturing to Hongdae that evening, but somehow his feet had managed to go on autopilot and brought him there.   
  
A dismayed sigh leaves Kyungsoo’s lips as he thought back on the incident earlier that afternoon. He’d been in a daze for the entire morning, after dialling the number Baekhyun had given him two nights ago, only to find that the number wasn’t in service at all. Kyungsoo had accidentally let slip of the fact during a private meeting with Jongdae, where they were  _supposed_  to work out the details of a project. He ought to stop getting so distracted by his thoughts during office hours.  
  
To his horror and mortification, Jongdae had teased the hell out of him, and even challenged Kyungsoo to return to the strip club to obtain Baekhyun’s real number. In his flustered state, Kyungsoo had accepted the challenge without second thoughts.  
  
In retrospect, perhaps it wasn’t such a brilliant decision on Kyungsoo’s part, after all.  
  
Kyungsoo heaves another long-suffering sigh, and walks right into Constellations after paying for the cover charge. Since he was already in the area, he figured he might as well stick through with it. God only knows what Jongdae would have to say if he finds out that Kyungsoo chickened out of the dare.  
  
Owing to the still-early hour (early for the night scene to be alive, anyway), the club is only half-filled, its patrons so sober that Kyungsoo wonders for a moment if he’s in the right place, only thoroughly convinced that he hadn’t stepped into another business venture by mistake when he catches sight of the neon sign hanging above the bar counter. And it seems luck is on his side that day, Kyungsoo thinks vaguely to himself, as he strides up to the counter, taking notice of the familiar female figure seated at the bar. At least he could save himself the trouble of coming up with ways to talk to Baekhyun in private, seeing that she’s currently not otherwise occupied.   
  
Baekhyun was just asking for another mug of beer when Kyungsoo slides into the seat next to hers with a grin on his face. “Hey, isn’t it a little too early to get yourself drunk?”   
  
She gives a little jump at that, obviously not expecting for someone to talk to her just yet, but the smile she’s wearing when she turns to regard him is the most dazzling thing he’s ever seen. “It’s never too early for a drink,” she quips, and there it is again – the mischievousness dancing in her eyes, inviting him to delve into the secrets she’s hiding from him.  
  
Kyungsoo takes a good look of Baekhyun then. Her wine red hair has been carefully gathered into a braid, and is currently hanging down the front of her chest. She seems to be having a Catholic schoolgirl thing going on that night, dressed in a crisp white button-down shirt, a knitted necktie, and a plaid skirt that barely reaches the middle of her thighs. The get-up would’ve made her look innocent, if it weren’t for the ankle boots and fishnet stockings she’s wearing, or the way her eyes are made up with smoky effects that makes her appear all the more alluring. Her makeup artist definitely knows how to bring the best out of her eyes.   
  
“You know, it’s not very nice of you to stare so openly at a girl.” Baekhyun’s voice cuts into his thoughts again, but there’s no heat in them. It doesn’t stop Kyungsoo from flushing red, though, and he quickly averts his eyes from where he had been staring at the white expanse of Baekhyun’s thighs.   
  
“Sorry,” he apologises sincerely, rubbing the back of his neck in an awkward gesture. “I didn’t mean to stare–”   
  
Baekhyun laughs and waves him off. “Don’t worry about that. I was just teasing you. I’m already used to being stared at, anyway.” She says good-naturedly, thanking the tall bartender who grins back with too much teeth when he hands her a fresh mug of beer, before turning back to look at Kyungsoo.  
  
Kyungsoo clears his throat at the way Baekhyun’s looking at him, suddenly remembering the lap dance she had given him the other day. “Well, I still don’t think it’s the proper way to treat a lady.”   
  
“You  _do_  know you’re talking to a stripper, right?” Baekhyun giggles as she glances up at him from her drink, her words sincere. Recognition flashes in her eyes then. “By the way, is your name Kyungsoo, or am I mistaking you for someone else?”   
  
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen at her question. He wasn’t expecting her to remember his name; he thought it would have been drowned out by the loud club music that night, but apparently not. “Yeah,” he finally blurts out, amazed. “You have pretty good memory. And a very good ear.”   
  
The corner of Baekhyun’s lips – painted in an innocent, sweet shade of pink that night – curves up into a semblance of a smirk. “It’s pretty hard to forget someone as cute as you–” Her smirk grows wider when Kyungsoo chokes on his own drink at the unexpected compliment. “– _especially_  when we’ve had such an  _intimate_  session a couple of nights ago.”   
  
His cheeks positively flames up at the reminder, even as he struggles not to let his emotions show. Baekhyun evidently has multiple tricks up her sleeves, all aimed at getting her clients as flustered as possible. Kyungsoo has to admit, she’s doing a mighty fine job in that department.   
  
“Speaking of that night,” Kyungsoo begins when he has finally managed to calm himself down enough, “you told me to call you, but you gave me the wrong number.”   
  
Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at his statement, seemingly confused for a brief moment, before her body trembles from a failing attempt to keep her laughter bottled up. She coughs into her hand to dispel her laughing fit, and leans forward in her seat, a knowing smile playing on her lips as she regards Kyungsoo through hooded eyes. Kyungsoo pretends not to notice the outline of her navy blue bra that’s showing through her shirt, or how the material of her shirt is clinging to her skin from the way she’s angling her body towards him, her hands pressed into the seat between her slightly parted legs.  
  
Baekhyun screams sinful, and Kyungsoo  _likes_  sinful.   
  
“You’re  _so_  cute.” Baekhyun practically gushes, though her voice drops low as she says, “Tell you what. I’m not going to be performing on stage tonight–” She must have noticed the disappointment in Kyungsoo’s expression then, for Baekhyun inched even closer to him, so much so that her lips are brushing against his earlobe as she continued with what she had to say. “–but you can come watch me put up a private show.”   
  
“Private show?” Kyungsoo echoes, and his dick throbs in anticipation from the silent promise that Baekhyun had took special care in layering into her words, that it would be  _exciting_.  
  
“Yes, a private show.” Baekhyun confirms. The perfume she’s wearing is invading his senses, and it’s absolutely intoxicating. Kyungsoo’s mildly distracted by the way Baekhyun’s forefinger is drawing idle circles on his lap, but he forces himself to pay close attention to her words. “It doesn’t exactly come cheap, but I guarantee you that it’ll be worth every single Won you pay for.  _And_ , I’ll give you my number – the real one – at the end of the night.”   
  
Drawn in by the overpowering lure of lust and something more, Kyungsoo agrees in a heartbeat, figuring that he’ll regret his impulsiveness later. His curiosity is too strong to be ignored right now.  
  
  


\--

  
  
Baekhyun parted ways with Kyungsoo after she had led him to another section of the club and had spoken to a burly bouncer who’s guarding the entrance of another corridor. Kyungsoo decidedly ignores the way the bulky man is leering at him, and he’s extremely thankful when another waitress shows up to lead him to his destination – wherever that is. He glances around curiously as he walks down the corridor, lagging some ways behind the waitress from the distraction, and taking note of the numerous doors on either side of him.  
  
“Those are private rooms for the clientele who wish to book a particular dancer for the night, sir.” The waitress, a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties, informs him as they turn around the corner, apparently having noticed the lingering questions on Kyungsoo’s face.   
  
Kyungsoo flushes a little and mutters his thanks for the clarification, just as the waitress steps aside and ushers him into a small cubicle with a slight bow when they have arrived at the end of the corridor.  
  
“Enjoy your night, sir.” The waitress says again, and shuts the door behind her to give him some privacy.   
  
He finally relaxes when he’s left alone, and Kyungsoo finds himself taking in the room curiously again. It’s basked in a warm, orange glow from the lamp hanging from the ceiling, and it’s barely furnished save for the lone armchair in the middle of the room and a small table by the side. Kyungsoo’s brows furrow a little at the sight of a tissue box perched on top of the table, but he shrugs and pads across the carpeted floor to make himself comfortable in the chair.   
  
There’s a full-lengthed panel of glass in front of him, and Kyungsoo deduces that it’s a one-way viewing mirror; the staff setting up the room on the other side of the glass did not seem to have noticed him there. Even if they did, they’re doing a great job at ignoring his presence. He squints in confusion when they bring in a bed with a laptop computer perched on top of it; surely he’d heard correctly when Baekhyun had told him that she’s putting up a private show that night?   
  
His running queries are answered when the staffs leave the room, and Baekhyun walks in with what looks like a parcel in her hands. She drops herself on the stomach on the bed, peering at the parcel before giving it like a light shake, just like any curious girl would in an attempt to guess its contents.   
  
“I wonder what the boy next door gave me for my birthday…” Baekhyun suddenly says to no one in particular, voice crystal clear even through the glass partition, before sitting cross-legged on the bed and balancing the gift on her legs. She unwraps the parcel with great care, and Kyungsoo chokes on his spit when she produces a dildo from the box with a flourish. Her face is scrunched up in confusion now as she examines the silicone object between her fingers, as though she had no idea what it’s for.   
  
When Baekhyun turns to the laptop and accesses an adult site, however, Kyungsoo finally understands what was going on – Baekhyun’s pretending to be a Catholic schoolgirl who discovers a sex toy for the first time in her life. A shiver runs through him then, and his heart beats a little faster in his chest to send more blood into his dick. Kyungsoo  _has_  to admit that the imagery arouses him more than it probably should; it feels as though he’s intruding on a very private moment, but he finds that he can’t tear his eyes away from her even if his heart says  _no_.   
  
Sensual moans soon filter out of the laptop’s speaker and fills the room once Baekhyun finds the right ‘teaching video’, and she watches it in apparent fascination, her cheeks slowly colouring from the images shown on the screen. She’s definitely putting up a very convincing show.   
  
Kyungsoo momentarily forgets how to breathe when Baekhyun places the computer on the floor before moving to lie on her back, her hands coming up to knead at her breasts through her uniform, the action hesitant. He drinks in the sight of Baekhyun on the bed, her face contorted flatteringly in pleasure, her mouth parted slightly as she tries to breathe. Somewhere along the way, Baekhyun’s hand had reached up to undo her hair from the braid holding it in place, leaving it spread out beneath her in a beautiful mess, and half of her shirt buttons are undone when he looks again, her necktie lying forgotten in the room somewhere.  
  
His mouth goes completely dry when she shifts in the bed and spreads her legs wide open, giving Kyungsoo a full view of what lies beneath her skirt. He can see the damp spot staining her panties, and he craves to press his fingers against the fabric, just to feel for himself how wet she already was.   
  
Baekhyun takes a brief moment to shimmy out of her fishnet stockings and panties then, leaving her skirt on, and gets right down to business. Kyungsoo watches unblinkingly as Baekhyun’s slender fingers glide down the length of her torso, reaching between her legs and disappearing into herself with one fluid motion. A drawn-out moan is pulled out of her lips, coaxing another twitch out of Kyungsoo’s cock. The moan is loud to Kyungsoo’s ears, and he finds himself undoing the buttons of his shirt just as Baekhyun’s free hand dips under her now-crumpled shirt. She pushes her bra down, revealing a dusky, hard nub, and Kyungsoo pinches his own nipple just as Baekhyun does the same to herself. He pretends that he’s in the room with her, that her hands are his own, and that he’s the one pulling all the mewls and moans and other sounds which are pouring out of her lips like a fervent mantra.   
  
The hand between her legs is moving faster and faster now, with Baekhyun adding one finger after another to work herself open, the heel of her hand pressing against her clit for extra stimulation. Kyungsoo moans and squeezes his eyes shut, working frantically at his belt and his zip to free his throbbing cock, when Baekhyun abandons her nipple in favour of the dildo which lay on the bed next to her, giving it an experimental lick from base to tip.  
  
Kyungsoo trembles from the image and fists his already hard dick, pretending that the warmth enveloping it is Baekhyun’s mouth, that the pressure against his slit is from the press of her tongue. In the other room, Baekhyun is sucking obscenely on the dildo as she fucks herself open with her fingers, her cheeks hollowing around the toy as she presses it deep into her throat before pulling it out again when she gags lightly on it. Kyungsoo can’t help but admire how her lips are stretching prettily around the toy, and desperately wishes that they were around his cock instead.   
  
The imagery soon becomes too much to handle, and Kyungsoo is coming with a shout into his hand, strips of white spilling over pale skin after several more thrusts. He ruts weakly into his fist as he rides out his orgasm, and in the haze of arousal clouding his mind, he thinks to himself,  _oh, that’s what the tissues are for_.  
  
He has barely gotten himself cleaned up when Baekhyun finally releases the dildo from her mouth with an obscene ‘pop’, and sucks on her fingers which she had used to scissor herself with earlier, having a taste of herself. She lies on the bed for a while, just sucking on her digits and licking them clean, her exposed chest heaving seductively, but it’s more than enough to get Kyungsoo half-hard again as he wonders how she would like it if he nibbled at her skin, turning her body into his canvas and marking her with red that fades into purple that fades into yellow.   
  
Baekhyun doesn’t give him any reprieve, though, and he finds it a little scary how she seemed to be able to read his mind, burying the dildo deep inside herself just as Kyungsoo fantasizes about fucking her into the bed. Another strangled moan leaves both their lips at that, and Baekhyun lies still for a moment to get herself accustomed to the feeling of having the toy inside her. Kyungsoo’s hips start moving when Baekhyun pulls the dildo out of herself and plunges it back in, and with every thrust, sinful sounds are pried from her lips, feeding the lust in Kyungsoo’s system further.   
  
It’s not easy to match her pace, when Kyungsoo wanted nothing more than to relieve the tension within him, wound up tightly like a coil and making him feel as though he’s about to implode at any given second, but he manages to slow himself down. He imagines himself pounding into her, images her legs wrapping around him and pulling him close to keep him there, imagines himself sucking on her nipple and making her arch into him, her fingers tangled in his hair and her nails leaving angry red marks on his back. He wants to see Baekhyun undulating beneath him, wants to see her completely wrecked  _because_  of him.   
  
He knows she’s close to her release when her breaths become more ragged, her hand working faster and faster to drive the dildo into herself, the other reaching between her legs to rub at her clit – and then the invisible string pulling her taut snaps. Baekhyun comes with a muffled groan, her body trembling from the aftershocks that rock through her body, and she fucks herself languidly with the toy as she rides out her orgasm before finally pulling it out.   
  
Kyungsoo gets his second release soon after, and he sits bonelessly in the armchair, too tired and spent to event want to clean himself up right away. He jumps in his seat when there’s a sudden knock on the door, and he frantically wipes himself up to the best of his ability before walking over to answer it. Even then, he only leaves a tiny slit open, enough for him to peek out of the room and investigate the source of the sudden intrusion.   
  
Thankfully, the waitress at the door – the same one who had shown him the way here – did not find his actions eccentric, nor does she show any signs of her having heard him pleasuring himself in the room to the sight of Baekhyun masturbating. Then again, working in such a place, she’s probably already used to hearing the customers’ moans.   
  
He clears his throat in embarrassment, and with what hopefully is his steadiest voice, he says, “Yes?”   
  
The waitress smiles amiably and feeds a folded piece of paper through the small opening. Kyungsoo retrieves it with his non-soiled hand, and eyes her questioningly.  
  
“A message from Miss Baekhyun,” she informs politely, smile still in place. “She hopes you have had a good night.”  
  
Kyungsoo shifts a little in his position when he feels his cock twitch from the memory of the incident earlier, and flashes a wry smile at the waitress. “I have; thank you for being the, uh– messenger.”   
  
The woman replies with a smile and a slight dip of her head, before she’s on her way again, probably trusting Kyungsoo to find his own way out later when he’s more steady on his feet. Kyungsoo breathes in relief and leans against the door, grinning to himself when he unfolds the paper and finds a fresh set of numbers scribbled on it, along with what looks like a lipstick mark pressed over it.  
  
_This number is definitely genuine_ , the message that accompanies it reads,  _but in case I pulled a trick on you again (you’ll never know until you try!), you’re always welcomed to confront me in the club again. XOXO, Baekhyun._  
  
  


\--

  
  
Kyungsoo keeps going back to Constellations after that night, drawn to the club and to Baekhyun like a moth is to flames. There's a strange sort of magnetism surrounding Baekhyun, one that Kyungsoo can't actually pinpoint, but he doesn't dwell on it, preferring to go with the flow instead.  
  
His meetings with Baekhyun aren't always sexual in nature. They sometimes talk like friends would, and sometimes they flirt when they think nobody's watching, but it never gets past that stage. Even though Baekhyun insists that it's okay for Kyungsoo to touch her in any way he wants to – she can probably see the overwhelming desire in his eyes – Kyungsoo reminds himself not to overstep that boundary, not unless Baekhyun initiates it with a lap dance or a too-intimate touch. His mind may wander off in the direction of one too many impure thoughts, but Kyungsoo knows better than to take advantage of Baekhyun like that.  
  
At the end of the day, all he craves is for Baekhyun's companionship, because he likes her smile. He likes the sound of her tinkling laughter. He likes the way the corner of her eyes wrinkle attractively when she laughs. He likes the way her voice gently caresses his senses. He likes the lingering touches Baekhyun peppers him with.   
  
Above all, he likes Baekhyun in every way that makes her  _Baekhyun_  – more than he ever cares to admit. And so he turns a blind eye to his own feelings, thinking that it's probably because he's been alone for way too long.  
  
These feelings shall come to pass, he tells himself, and he thinks he can vaguely hear Jongdae's derisive laughter at the back of his mind.  
  
He ignores that, too.  
  
  


\--

  
  
“Hey, Baekhyun.” A deep voice – deep for a female, anyway – calls out from behind while Baekhyun’s busy checking her reflection out in the mirror backstage before her performance, straightening up her police uniform for the night. Baekhyun half turns in her position as she fixes her collar, an eyebrow raised in her friend’s direction.  
  
“What, Jongin? Can’t you see I’m busy here?” She says a little impatiently. “And it’s Baekhyun  _unnie_  for you, you brat. How many times do I have to tell you that?” She adds as an afterthought, a tiny scowl on her face.   
  
Jongin, who’s in a similar attire as Baekhyun, apart from the fact that she’s wearing a pair of hotpants that barely covers her ass over her fishnet stockings instead of a skirt like Baekhyun, rolls her eyes at the older woman. “You already look perfect, you vain pot. Come over here for a second, will you?”  
  
The corner of Baekhyun’s mouth twists up in mild annoyance, and she heaves an exaggerated sigh, tucking her hair behind her ears and taking one last look at herself in the mirror before she walks over to where Jongin is standing, peeking out at the main club area from behind the curtains. “Well, I’m here. What do you want?” Baekhyun asks, trying not to feel intimidated by Jongin’s beautiful, well-toned, long pair of legs which are on full display. It’s a little unfair, Baekhyun thinks for what must be the thousandth time, how one person could possibly inherit such good genes. She’s envious of the healthy tan Jongin’s sporting, much unlike her own paleness which her mother used to frown upon a lot.   
  
“That man seated near the stage,” Jongin chirps, tugging on Baekhyun’s hand with barely-concealed excitement as she points at the person who had caught her attention. “He has been hanging around here quite often, hasn’t he?”   
  
Baekhyun squints past the blinding strobe lights and tries to locate the person Jongin’s talking about, her eyes widening in recognition when she sees big eyes, handsome face, and narrow shoulders. “Yeah, that’s Kyungsoo.” She affirms, then cocks an eyebrow at Jongin. “Why? Are you interested in him?”   
  
Jongin whips around so quickly that Baekhyun swears she can hear the way the joints in her neck crack from the force. “ _What?_  No!” She almost yells, looking as if Baekhyun had just uttered something completely blasphemous. “It’s just– I think he’s interested in you.”   
  
“Are you  _crazy_?” Baekhyun practically screeches, then realises she’d said it in a voice too loud and had attracted the curious stares of the customers who are close enough to the backstage to hear – Kyungsoo included. Baekhyun flushes a pretty shade of pink and quickly drags Jongin back inside to continue with their conversation before they embarrass themselves further.   
  
Jongin’s face is a mask of innocence as she trails after Baekhyun, watching her plop down on a beanbag chair before taking the one next to hers. “I’m not crazy, unnie. I mean, just think about this: loaded or not, no man would come to the strip club  _this_  often just to see you.” Jongin proposes, pulling Baekhyun’s hand into her lap and keeping it there.   
  
Baekhyun chews on her bottom lip as she mulls over Jongin’s words for a moment, and releases it with a huff. “No way.” She says with a tone of finality. “Men who come to clubs like this only have one thing on their minds, and they sure as hell aren’t looking for something serious. They all want things they can never obtain. I thought you should know better by now.”   
  
“How many times has he booked a private room and requested for you?” Jongin’s relentless; her eyes on Baekhyun are earnest, searching, barring the older woman from lying her way out of this.   
  
Baekhyun slumps deeper into her seat, and blows a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. “Four.”   
  
“And how many times has he made a move on you?” Jongin raises an eyebrow at her, a knowing smile tugging at her lips.  
  
“None.” Baekhyun sighs, just as Jongin lets out a triumphant  _‘a-ha!’_  that makes Baekhyun thwack her in the arm.  
  
It’s not as though Baekhyun hasn’t considered the situation weird before. Men who booked a dancer for the night usually plan on hitting a home run by the time the night is over – but not Kyungsoo. Baekhyun remembers the first time she had walked into the room, only to find Kyungsoo smiling up at her from the sofa. It was a week after she’d given him her contact number (the real one), and apart from exchanging pleasantries through text, or receiving the occasional  _‘have a nice day, don’t let annoying people take your smile away’_  messages, Kyungsoo had stayed away from the club, and did not ring Baekhyun up at all for sex, like several other of her customers had. Baekhyun had thought that Kyungsoo was already bored of playing games with her, hence the text message and nothing else, until he’d showed up at the club one day and requested for Baekhyun’s company for the night.  
  
Except, Baekhyun had found herself being extremely confused when Kyungsoo rejected her initiatives at giving him a lap dance as per the norm, and said that he didn’t want her to suck him off or ride him either, as she had so boldly asked. Rather, all Kyungsoo had asked for was her company in the simplest and purest of senses, preferring to talk to her over a glass of red wine that warmed her up and made her relax sufficiently. Baekhyun had blushed when Kyungsoo removed his coat and draped it over her, saying that her exposed skin was rather distracting and he  _honestly_  just wanted to talk. Baekhyun would like to think that she is a good judge of character, and back then, all she could see was his sincerity.  
  
It was an odd turn of events, but Baekhyun can’t say she hadn’t enjoyed it at all. It was a good change, not having to please someone sexually for a night, and Baekhyun had found herself divulging more about her life to Kyungsoo than she would have to her other customers under normal circumstances.   
  
It doesn’t stop her from wondering if her sex appeal isn’t quite enough to lure Kyungsoo in, though. Baekhyun’s quite used to men throwing themselves at her in private, after all the teasing in the main club area leading up to their private room booking.   
  
“You see,” Jongin’s smug voice pulls Baekhyun back to reality, and Baekhyun stages a scowl at the younger woman. “Not all men are sexual predators. You just have to have faith!”   
  
Baekhyun shakes her head with barely concealed amusement. “I still think you’re much too naïve to be in this industry.” She ignores the frown Jongin’s flashing at her; Jongin has never liked it when Baekhyun treats her like some teenage girl, and Baekhyun knows that Jongin’s famous  _‘but I’m already twenty two!’_  retort is at the tip of her tongue, but she doesn’t give Jongin the opportunity to say it. “And besides, I’ve said this before – men who frequent clubs like this are invariably in it for the sex.”  
  
“But Han unnie managed to find love in one of her customers. That  _has_  to count for something, doesn’t it?” Jongin retorts, looking hopeful.  
  
Luhan. One of Baekhyun’s closest friends in the scene, back in another strip club in Cheongdamdong where Baekhyun had worked at briefly. A pretty Chinese doll with almost ethereal looks, all soft lips and wide eyes and porcelain white skin, and the subject of Baekhyun’s greatest envies. She had met and fell in love with Kris Wu, the son of a wealthy business tycoon from Canada, who had eventually bought her out of the nightclub and married her after.   
  
It was practically a fairytale – and Baekhyun has seen enough of the world to know, with full conviction, that fairytales rarely ever came true. She isn’t about to lull herself into a sense of falsity. The higher you get your hopes up, the more rapid your descent to the deepest pit of despair. Baekhyun has been there, and she has vowed never to let herself walk down that path ever again.  
  
Baekhyun stands up with a huff then, no longer in the mood to keep up with the conversation. “Han unnie’s case is an isolated one. It would do you a lot of good to not hope for something like that, Jongin.” She mutters darkly, her tone barring any further discussions.  
  
As she fixes her makeup in the mirror, minutes before they were due to perform together on stage, Baekhyun catches Jongin’s displeased look at having been dismissed earlier, and grins when an idea pops up in her mind.  
  
Slowly, she turns around to face Jongin with the most innocent of smiles – one that makes Jongin eye her cautiously. “Say, Jongin, can you help with testing out a little theory of mine?”   
  
  


\--

  
  
Baekhyun’s hands are shaking tremendously as she grabs at the packet of cigarettes stashed away in her locker, and are still shaking as she opens the box and tries to jam a stick between her red lips. The agitation is grating at her nerves, made worse when her lighter refuses to work. She’s about to fling the object across the room when a fire finally comes to life, and she gratefully takes a lungful of carcinogenic smoke and slumps into her chair by the dressing table, feeling her grip on her sanity slowly returning to her with every inhale and exhale.   
  
She doesn’t exactly know why she’s so tightly strung after getting off the stage from her combined performance with Jongin. Or maybe she does. Baekhyun runs a hand through her hair in frustration and takes another puff of her cigarette, letting her head fall backwards over the backrest of her chair as a disdained sigh escapes her lips along with a wisp of smoke.   
  
In hindsight, Baekhyun really shouldn’t have allowed her own curiosity to get the better of her. On a silly whim, Baekhyun had asked of Jongin to give Kyungsoo a lap dance in her place once they’d parted ways on the main stage and made off to tease individual customers around the bar, just to see for herself if Kyungsoo’s not at all different from the other men. Jongin may be naïve backstage, but she transforms into a seductive vixen once she steps under the spotlight; Baekhyun _knows_  it and uses it to her advantage.   
  
As reluctant as Baekhyun was to admit it, men would invariably fall at Jongin’s feet, eager to have her company for the night once she’s given them a lap dance – but this was an experiment, to test out both Baekhyun’s and Jongin’s inferences. Jongin says Kyungsoo will keep her eyes on Baekhyun. Baekhyun had banked on Kyungsoo gluing his eyes on Jongin for the rest of the night after one simple dance, but little that she knew she would be proved wrong.   
  
She had watched Kyungsoo and Jongin from across the room, picking the customer who would strategically put the pair in Baekhyun’s direct line of sight as she worked around her choice of the night. But what she saw back then had her winded. Even though Jongin had pulled her most seductive moves on Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo did not even spare a glance at Jongin. Rather, Kyungsoo had invested his full attention on Baekhyun –  _Baekhyun_ , whose existence had always been overshadowed by Jongin whenever they were in the same room.   
  
Baekhyun remembers the look in Kyungsoo’s eyes with perfect clarity. There was a bit of betrayal ( _why_ , Baekhyun had no idea) and a whole lot of longing in them, things which Baekhyun couldn’t understand. She’d been terribly distracted throughout her routine, trying to make sense of things in her mind, only returning her focus to the job at hand when Jongin had walked over and pinched her,  _hard_ , in the ass. It might’ve been a suggestive gesture to most, especially after their particularly raunchy performance together which had almost ended in Jongin fingering Baekhyun right on stage, but to Baekhyun, the hidden message was clear:  _stop fucking up and keep your head in the game._    
  
Of course, that did not stop Baekhyun from rushing off the stage immediately after their joint performance, even if it’s usually the norm for her to hang around a bit to wheedle more cash out of unsuspecting customers. She thinks she might throw up on someone if she’d stayed any longer. In fact, she’s surprised that she actually hasn’t emptied her stomach contents in the toilet bowl yet.   
  
The emotions which have been stirred thanks to Kyungsoo’s smouldering gaze was overwhelming, to say the least. Baekhyun has never felt so  _wanted_  in a very long time, and it’s not in the most superficial of senses.   
  
“Baekhyun unnie? Are you in here?” Jongin’s voice suddenly fills the dressing room, just as Baekhyun takes another long drag of the cigarette between her fingers. Baekhyun jumps and quickly moves to stub it out, but it’s much too late when Jongin walks over to Baekhyun’s cubicle and frowns at her, expressions disapproving. “You’re smoking? Again? You promised–”  
  
“I know what I’ve promised you, Jongin.” Baekhyun cuts her off tiredly. Jongin has been trying to get her to kick the habit for a while now, and she’s been successful for the most part, but Baekhyun’s prone to relapses whenever she feels majorly stressed out. Today is one of those days, and Jongin doesn’t reprimand her further, slipping into the chair next to Baekhyun instead, the concern etched into her features.   
  
“What’s wrong, unnie? You looked seriously pale after the stage and I was worried about you when you took off so suddenly.” Jongin says, pushing a bottle of mineral water into Baekhyun’s hands. Baekhyun doesn’t question where she had procured it from, only accepting it with a thin smile and a soft  _‘thanks’_.   
  
She takes several gulps of water, grimacing when it mixes with the residual nicotine on her tongue and giving her mouth a weird taste, almost like she’d licked a drenched piece of charcoal. Only when she’s sure she is calm enough to speak does Baekhyun suck in a deep breath and say, “I don’t know what to do, Jongin. This is all so confusing.”   
  
“Are you talking about Kyungsoo?” Jongin blinks at her, and she wonders how on earth the girl can be so perceptive when she’s spaced out more than half the time.  
  
Reluctantly, she nods. “...yeah. He didn’t respond to you, did he?” Baekhyun chances a glance at Jongin who, she notices, is jutting her lower lip out in thought.   
  
“He did. He was so hard earlier that if I hadn’t moved away from him, he would’ve cummed in his pants.” Jongin says thoughtfully.   
  
Baekhyun hears the catch in her sentence. “But?”   
  
“But I don’t think he was paying much attention to me. He was looking at  _you_  ninety-eight percent of the time.”  
  
Baekhyun’s manicured nails dug into her palms when she feels the first wave of queasiness rushing up to greet her again. What’s that supposed to mean?   
  
“Look,” Jongin says again, her gaze on Baekhyun firm. “If you’re worrying so much over this matter, why don’t you ask him directly? You have his number, so.” It’s at times like these that Jongin acts much older than her actual age, and Baekhyun doesn’t know if she loves or hates it when this happens.   
  
Baekhyun chews on her bottom lip out of habit as she mulls over the suggestion, before shaking her head. “Forget it. I’ll just go home and sleep these thoughts off. I’m probably just exhausted. And stressed.”   
  
Jongin seemed as though she had something else to say, but she decides against it in the end and squeezes Baekhyun’s hand in a comforting gesture instead. “You should. Kangta said you can be excused for the night. Go home and rest up.”   
  
Baekhyun barely manages a thin smile at Jongin, and then she finds herself alone in the dressing room that is suddenly all too big when Jongin returns to the main club area to do her job. The jitteriness is back in a flash, and Baekhyun itches for another cigarette, but she takes one look at the cigarette pack on the table and chucks it into her drawer, hiding it from sight. Jongin may tolerate her sneaking a stick, but she’s definitely going to throw a huge fit if she finds Baekhyun taking another. She gathers her things, changes out of the sequined undergarments she still had on (her police uniform was left discarded somewhere in the main bar area), and throws on the clothes she had worn to work earlier that evening.   
  
Leaving through the main door is probably going to be a bad idea when the club’s still filled to the brim, so Baekhyun makes a quick decision and slips out of the back door. She’s in the midst of pulling her hair into a ponytail when she notices a man leaning against the wall near the mouth of the alley, and she freezes in her steps, the echo of her heels on asphalt still loud in her ears. Under the pale moonlight, she could still recognise the figure almost effortlessly, whose skin is basked in an ethereal light that takes her breath away.  
  
He didn’t seem to have noticed her approaching, though. Rather, he seems to have dozed off while still standing, so Baekhyun quietly walks up to him and taps him lightly on the shoulder. “Kyungsoo?” She hedges, and Baekhyun isn’t sure if she’d imagined the breathlessness of her own voice.   
  
Kyungsoo’s beautiful lashes flutter open at the sound of his name, and he blinks drowsily for a brief moment, trying to regain his bearings. He doesn’t panic when he finally registers Baekhyun’s presence – not outwardly, at least – though his eyes do widen a little at the sight of her, as though he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing. “Hi,” he says finally with a smile, and he sounds just as breathless as Baekhyun had been. “You’re out early tonight.”  
  
“Yeah,” she nods, fidgeting a little with the hem of her jacket before she remembers that  _Byun Baekhyun does not fidget_ and stops herself. She hates how uncertain she becomes when she’s around Kyungsoo, hates it even more that she doesn’t know  _why_  she’s acting like this. “Are you… waiting for someone?” Baekhyun asks despite herself, and quickly bites on her tongue before she could say anything else to embarrass herself.   
  
Kyungsoo chuckles a little, and Baekhyun finds herself mesmerised by the way his features brighten up. “You.” He says simply, then amends himself. “I was waiting for you. You looked a little ill earlier, and I was worried– Not that– I mean, not that I have the right to–”   
  
He’s rambling now, tripping all over his words, and Baekhyun thinks it’s endearing, but it also throws her through another cycle of confusion and makes her head spin. As far as Baekhyun’s concerned, the relationship between her and Kyungsoo is that of a stripper and her customer. Customers  _do not_  pay this much attention to the stripper, much less when they weren’t even in a private room to begin with; the emotional baggage is completely unnecessary. But here was Kyungsoo, telling her that he was worried about her.   
  
“Why?” She asks finally. It’s a general question, she knows, but the rest of the words are caught in her throat. Besides, Baekhyun doesn’t exactly knows what she intends to find out, either. So she settles for that. “Why?”   
  
Kyungsoo looks defeated. “I don’t know, either, but I’d really like to find out.”   
  
It takes less than half a minute for Baekhyun to abandon the last of her rationality and to latch her lips onto Kyungsoo’s surprisingly soft ones, even as she grows even more confused by everything.   
  
  


\--

  
  
Kyungsoo drives them back from the bar to his home in record speed that night. The decision pretty much came as a no-brainer, when Kyungsoo had realised there was no way he could’ve lasted without taking Baekhyun right then and there in the alley, what with her pressing up against him insistently. It hadn’t been easy for him to break away from their kiss to offer the suggestion to Baekhyun; apart from the fact that Baekhyun kept on chasing after his lips as though she depended on them to survive, Kyungsoo himself hadn’t really wanted to pull away, either. Her kisses were intoxicating, and Kyungsoo had found himself feeling compelled to keep savouring the taste of her lips – a mixture of strawberry-flavoured lipstick and a slight hint of nicotine – and committing it to his memory.  
  
Even in the car, Baekhyun hadn’t really been able to keep her hands off of Kyungsoo, frequently leaning across the centre panel to press open-mouthed kisses on his neck. Between the massive distraction that is Baekhyun and the aching pain in his groin, Kyungsoo’s surprised he had managed to get them home safely at all.   
  
Kyungsoo throws the last of his reservations out of the window as they stumble into the lift together, tongues entwined and hands roaming all over each other’s bodies. Conscience tells him that what they’re doing is highly indecent, what with the security cameras of his apartment building recording everything as they go, and maybe he might’ve accidentally scarred the eyes of the old man living two doors down, permanently, as they stagger past his unit practically sucking each other’s faces off, but Kyungsoo’s currently operating on a one-track mind and thus, can’t be arsed about the others. All he cares about right now is getting them both into bed so that the ache in his pants can be taken care of.   
  
They stumble through the dark apartment, kicking off their shoes at the door with much difficulty, and Baekhyun laughs breathlessly into the kiss when she loses her balance upon getting down from her platform shoes, only to be caught by Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo manages to steer them into his room without bumping into anything else, and drops them both onto his bed, with Baekhyun on her back beneath him.   
  
Deciding that they both need a break to replenish the air in their lungs, Kyungsoo pries his lips away from Baekhyun’s reluctantly, his hands digging into the sheets on either side of her head as he props himself up to take a good look at her. His heart stutters a little at how beautiful she looks, even with her hair falling messily out of her ponytail, her chest heaving as she tries to catch her breath, her cheeks dusted in a pretty shade of pink. It’s only then that Kyungsoo realises they’d both lost their jackets somewhere between the entrance of his house and his bedroom, and Baekhyun’s top is missing, too. He doesn’t recall ever having removed any of those clothing articles, but he can’t bring himself to care, either.  
  
“Are you feeling any better?” Kyungsoo asks when he remembers how pale Baekhyun had been earlier. He doesn’t quite trust the flush colouring her cheeks now, knowing that it’s a result of the arousal.  
  
Beneath him, Baekhyun bites on her lower lip coyly, then suddenly reaches up and flips Kyungsoo over, moving to straddle his abdomen instead. Kyungsoo has to admit that the view he’s getting is pretty damned perfect. “Better,” she laughs, and leans in to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, while her nimble hands make quick work of his shirt buttons. “You’re not being fast enough for my liking, though.” Baekhyun teases.  
  
That’s when Kyungsoo sobers up from the haze of lust clouding his mind, and he grabs hold of Baekhyun’s tiny wrists, stopping her from doing anything else with her hands, even though another part of his mind craves for them to run all over his bare skin. “Baekhyun,  _wait_.” He gasps, causing her to look at him questioningly, seemingly unable to comprehend why Kyungsoo would want to stop her when things are about to get more heated.   
  
Kyungsoo swallows his spit and wills his breaths to even out a little, before he meets her gaze again. “Are you sure you want to do this?” He asks when he manages to find his voice through the panting. Kyungsoo can’t smell a single trace of alcohol on her – she probably isn’t really the type to drink before taking the stage – but Baekhyun’s actions come off as abrupt to him. Sure, she would always tease him whenever he was in the club, but she had never shown any signs of her wanting to take things to the next level.   
  
Kyungsoo  _wants_  her, that much is true, but he doesn’t want her to regret anything from a brash decision she had made on a whim, either.  
  
“Why?” Baekhyun breathes out. Her fingers curl against the heated skin of his chest, and she lets her gaze fall. “Do you– do you not want this?”  
  
Kyungsoo’s heart drops at the sight of her expression, so dejected that it makes him want to wrap his arms around her and whisper into her ear that  _it’s going to be okay_ , but the invisible boundary still exists between them, and Kyungsoo isn’t allowing himself to cross that line. “I do,” he says quietly instead, injecting as much sincerity into his words as he possibly can to convince her. “But I don’t want you to regret anything that might transpire from this.  
  
Baekhyun looks up and frowns mildly at him. “Why would I regret this?”   
  
“Because,” Kyungsoo starts, and swallows hard to calm his nerves. “You’re perfect, and I’m a nobody. I probably don’t deserve you at all.” He admits, showing her his insecurities. Kyungsoo thinks Baekhyun shines as brightly as the spotlights she dances under, almost blindingly so – even if she doesn’t realise it.   
  
“What are you talking about, Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun’s voice is a whisper now, and she shudders a little when Kyungsoo presses a kiss to the insides of her wrists. Kyungsoo knows that it’s a bold move, the gesture too intimate for what they have between them (nothing), and it might throw their relationship – whatever it is they shared – off, but it’s too late to take it back now. He watches the column of her neck as she swallows and squeezes her eyes shut. “If anything,  _I’m_  the one who doesn’t deserve you. I’m the one who’s working in a dirty industry, not you. So yes, I want you tonight if you’ll let me, and I won’t regret it.”   
  
It’s all the permission Kyungsoo needs to lean up and catch Baekhyun’s lips in a lingering kiss.   
  
That night, both Kyungsoo and Baekhyun threw the last of their reservations away, and took the time to explore each other’s bodies. Kyungsoo loves the way Baekhyun trembles lightly in his hold as he runs his hands down her sides and up again; loves the little mewls and quiet moans that leave her lips as he bends down to take a nipple between his teeth as he rolls the other between his fingers; loves the way she arches up into him as his tongue flicks in and out of her, trying to get more friction.   
  
All her training in pole dancing meant that Baekhyun is as pliant as can be. Kyungsoo marvels in the way her body seems to fit so perfectly against him, like two matching puzzle pieces, and he wraps his arms around her to keep Baekhyun close to him as he pushes into her with a groan. He buries his face in the crook of her neck, lapping at the definition of her muscles there and her perfect collarbones, but being careful not to leave a mark because he doesn’t want her to get into trouble at work.   
  
The noises Baekhyun makes as Kyungsoo pounds into her is a potent aphrodisiac on its own, driving him to move his hips faster and faster to meet hers. When his thrusts start to become more erratic, Baekhyun pushes him down onto the bed and rides his cock instead, rolling her hips in such a way that sends even more blood pooling in his groin. He comes into the condom when Baekhyun clenches around him, pushing him off the edge and leaving him seeing white in his vision.   
  
Kyungsoo rests his shaky hands on her hips as he rides out his orgasm, watching her bounce on him through his post-orgasm haze. It takes a little longer before the invisible string pulling Baekhyun taut snaps, and she arches backwards, lips parted in a silent moan as she comes, muscles rigid for a moment before she slumps against him, tired and sated and _happy_.   
  
Kyungsoo doesn’t think he’ll be able to forget her silhouette in the pale moonlight, or the way she smiles when he pillows her head with his arm after, so beautiful and so Baekhyun.   
  
  


\--

  
  
He doesn’t quite know what he’s expecting when he opens his eyes next, when the sunlight streams in through the curtains and warms his bare skin, but Kyungsoo can taste the disappointment, thick and bitter on his tongue, when he wakes up the next morning and finds the space next to him on the bed empty and cold.  
  
The lipstick mark on his cheek and the love bites blooming all over his body are the only indications that the previous night wasn’t merely a dream.  
  
  


\--

  
  
“So… let me get this straight.” Jongdae says as he takes a sip of his coffee, his eyes still on the stack of papers in his hand, scanning each line with care. “You’ve slept with her multiple times, but you say there’s nothing going on between you two.”   
  
Kyungsoo doesn’t know if he’s imagining the mocking tone in Jongdae’s words. He heaves an exaggerated sigh while he leafs through his stack of documents, trying to commit the more important details to memory. “Jongdae, why are we discussing about my private life when we have a life-or-death business deal to seal in less than twenty four hours?”   
  
“The silence is mind-numbing.” Jongdae shrugs. “Besides, we both know that your brain’s a sponge. A little distraction won’t matter to you.”   
  
“You’re making me rethink my decision of agreeing to be your business partner. I should’ve went to law school instead.” Kyungsoo snipes, shooting a glare at Jongdae over his papers before he picks up a highlighter and underlines a particularly important point on the agreement.   
  
“But you didn’t.” Jongdae says casually. “And you prefer this life, anyway. Now stop changing the subject and spill already.”   
  
Kyungsoo frowns at him this time. “I’ve said everything that needs to be said. There’s absolutely nothing between us,” he maintains, and it’s not a lie.  
  
After that particular day when Kyungsoo had woken up and found that Baekhyun had let herself out of the house without letting him know, he’d been depressed for a bit, until Baekhyun had texted him to apologise for the sudden leave, citing she had forgotten she had some errands to run that morning. To be fair, Baekhyun doesn’t have the obligation to explain herself, but Kyungsoo did not point that out either. It feels nice to know Baekhyun cared enough to send him a text.   
  
Of course, their sexual romps did not end there. Often Kyungsoo would find himself in Constellations, kissing Baekhyun languidly in the private rooms on some days, while some others are spent with her sucking him off in the restroom between her shifts. There are also days when Baekhyun would insist on following Kyungsoo home, even after her more tiring shifts, just to help him solve some pressing matters caused by her steamy striptease performances. The sex at such times are the most mind-blowing ones in Kyungsoo’s book.   
  
It’s not a bad arrangement, Kyungsoo thinks, especially when both parties are eager and willing to do it with no strings attached. But the more time Kyungsoo spends in Baekhyun’s presence, surrounded by shy smiles that contrast drastically from her confident on-stage persona, and her melodious laughter, he begins to crave for more than just sex with her. He can’t quite point a finger on the reason why, but Kyungsoo knows it’s a dangerous subject to breach, so he doesn’t mention it to Baekhyun, either.   
  
It’s more than enough for him to know that Baekhyun’s contented with what they have. His desires are secondary.  
  
Jongdae snorts derisively just then, as though Kyungsoo had spoken his mind out loud. Kyungsoo flushes and hopes fervently that he hadn’t. “Sure, keep deluding yourself into thinking things are  _that_ simple between the both of you.”   
  
“What do you mean, Jongdae?” Kyungsoo narrows his eyes, his tone carrying a warning edge. “All we do is fuck.” He ignores how the words taste on his tongue (bitter), or how his heart twitches (almost guiltily) at his choice of vocabulary.   
  
(Kyungsoo had been close to saying  _making love_ , but Jongdae had shot him down once, saying that you can’t  _make love_ when there is no love in the relationship. Kyungsoo had to begrudgingly agree with him.)   
  
Jongdae pauses in the middle of pressing his lips to the side of his mug and looks at Kyungsoo. The way his sharp eyes search Kyungsoo’s own ones is unsettling, and Kyungsoo tries not to squirm in his seat. It feels like ages has passed them by before Jongdae diverts his attention elsewhere, and Kyungsoo can almost rest easy.   
  
“If you say so” is all that Jongdae mutters, but the words gnaw at Kyungsoo’s mind long after. What does Jongdae see that he can’t?  
  
  


\--

  
  
It’s yet another night where Baekhyun graces Kyungsoo’s apartment with her presence. They stumble a little through the doorway, though this time it’s admittedly different – at least their lips aren’t fused, Kyungsoo thinks to himself. The wine from dinner had left them pleasantly buzzed, and Kyungsoo likes the light tint of pink colouring Baekhyun’s cheeks.   
  
He thinks she’s beautiful like this, more so than usual, with her makeup at a bare minimum, her customary eyeliner nowhere to be seen, and her pale blue halter neck dress hugs her figure perfectly, showing off her curves in all the right places. Her hair, now dyed in a light shade of brown, is swept up in an elegant bun, leaving her shoulder blades in full view, along with the small star tattoo inked onto her back.   
  
Kyungsoo shakes his head when he catches himself staring at Baekhyun for too long (not for the first time that night), and puts his hand on the small of her back, guiding her to the sofa so that they could sit and talk a little more. Baekhyun’s smiling at him when Kyungsoo drops himself on the leathered surface, and he finds himself grinning back, as though it’s second nature.   
  
“Thank you for tonight.” Baekhyun says, tone sincere. It’s quite a change from their earlier mood, where they had just been laughing loudly over a joke Baekhyun had told. Kyungsoo can’t say he minds it. “Dinner was lovely.”   
  
“I should be the one thanking you instead,” Kyungsoo laughs, then leans forward to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Baekhyun shudders a little at his touch, but Kyungsoo doesn’t pull back, cupping her cheek with his hand instead. “Thank you for accepting my invitation on such short notice. And I do feel guilty for pulling you out of work like that.”   
  
Kyungsoo is left winded when she looks up at him through her lashes, her gaze smouldering with something he can’t quite put a finger on. “Don’t be. It’s all I can do to congratulate you on sealing that business deal.” Baekhyun’s voice is quiet now, and Kyungsoo can feel her pulse in front of her ear quickening beneath his finger.  
  
“You don’t have to feel obligated–” Kyungsoo swallows against his suddenly dry throat, but before he can complete his sentence, Baekhyun had already closed the distance between them, pressing a deep, lingering kiss against Kyungsoo’s lips.  
  
He doesn't know if it's an effect from the red wine, but the kiss they're sharing is distinctly different from their usual open-mouthed, dirtier ones. The slide of Baekhyun's lips against his is slow, patient, sweet, and it leaves Kyungsoo stunned for a brief moment, his heart thundering against his chest and his mind reeling. It stirs up a new array of emotions, which Kyungsoo isn't given the time to analyse before she's breaking away from their lip-lock and leaving the pit of Kyungsoo's stomach feeling oddly hollow.   
  
When Kyungsoo returns to reality and chances a look at Baekhyun, he sees the hesitation reflected in her eyes, and the slightly guarded lines of her body, as though she’s worrying over her earlier actions. True enough, the words that tumble off her lips moments later confirms his suspicions. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have–”  
  
But Kyungsoo doesn’t allow her to finish that, either, and pulls her in for another kiss. It’s a silent reassurance on his part, that he doesn’t mind her kissing him, that he wants her to be near, as long as she wants him too. They kiss languidly for a while, lips sliding over each other’s, and Kyungsoo strokes her cheek gently with the back of his forefinger, smoothing out the last of her apprehensions. And then the mischievousness which Kyungsoo knows Baekhyun for creeps back into place, almost as though that side of her had never left, when she darts her tongue out and forces Kyungsoo’s lips apart, before tangling it with his, wrangling a noise that’s a mixture of a surprised gasp and a moan from Kyungsoo.   
  
Kyungsoo laughs breathlessly into the kiss after, and gently lowers Baekhyun onto the sofa, covering her skin with open-mouthed kisses that makes her shiver with every contact, warm lips on warmer skin. With a sure hand, Kyungsoo reaches behind Baekhyun, fingers ghosting over the knot that’s holding her dress together, eyes searching hers for permission. Baekhyun had told him once that he didn’t need to wait for her approval before stripping her down, but he insisted on doing so every single time. Kyungsoo won’t let himself live it down otherwise. Stripper or not, Kyungsoo still believes in respecting Baekhyun first and foremost as a woman.   
  
When Baekhyun nodded in acquiescence, Kyungsoo gives the bow a slight tug, freeing the knot, then helps her out of the dress, placing it aside so that they wouldn’t ruin it. Baekhyun had forgone her bra that night, seeing that her dress is padded, and Kyungsoo drinks in the sight of her, lying on his white leather sofa clad only in a pair of black thongs, and he thinks she’s perfect like that, too.   
  
“Don’t stare.” Baekhyun speaks up then, tugging on the hem of Kyungsoo’s untucked shirt tail and pulling him forward. Contrary to what she had said, there isn’t a trace of embarrassment in her intonation, only teasing. Kyungsoo braces his weight on one arm, propping himself up just enough to be able to look at her face. He can’t wipe the grin off his lips.   
  
“Hmm,” he hums thoughtfully, “when have you gotten so shy?”   
  
Baekhyun laughs and pushes herself up to leave a chaste kiss on his lips, and Kyungsoo’s heart leaps at the gesture. “Since I started associating with you.”   
  
Kyungsoo plays along. “Don’t be. You’re beautiful. There’s no need for you to hide anything from me.” He says, curling his fingers into her long locks, smile tender.   
  
“Cheeseball,” Baekhyun scrunches her nose at his words, but her cheeks do get a little more flushed at his compliment. Before Kyungsoo can tease her about her reaction, though, Baekhyun has already slipped a hand beneath his dress shirt, her palm roaming across a vast expanse of skin, and Kyungsoo’s breath hitches when she rolls a nipple between her fingers. He loses his strength in the arm that is supporting most of his weight when Baekhyun deliberately brushes her thigh against his crotch, and he’s suddenly made aware of how hard he already is in his pants.   
  
Baekhyun swallows his moan with a kiss, and begins fumbling with his buttons impatiently with her other hand. “It’s not fair–” She says in between kisses, as Kyungsoo grinds down on her thigh to get more friction. “–for you to be fully-dressed–” His unbuttoned shirt is left hanging on his frame as Baekhyun moves to work on his belt. “–when I’m almost completely naked.”   
  
Before Baekhyun can unzip his pants, though, Kyungsoo grabs her by the wrists and pins her hands down, his grip firm but not enough to hurt. “That’s okay, we can rectify the situation _later_.” He says simply, before leaning in to press kisses down her throat, her chest, before lingering on a breast, tongue flicking around a dusky nipple. He can feel the way the muscles in her wrists tense, telling him that she’s clenching her fists, that she’s enjoying this. Only after he has lavished his attention on the other nipple does Kyungsoo make his way down the rest of her body, kissing and licking at her heated skin.  
  
The air of the night is cooling, with laboured breathing and breathless moans punctuating the silence, but Kyungsoo pauses in the middle of pressing kisses to the prominence of her hips when he catches sight of the fading bruises that mar her pale skin under the moonlight. He pulls away with a frown and senses Baekhyun’s questioning gaze trained on him.  
  
“These bruises–” he starts, but Baekhyun’s gasp cuts him off, and his eyes flicker up to glance at her.   
  
“They’re nothing. Don’t worry about them.” Baekhyun swallows, suddenly looking hesitant. She shivers when Kyungsoo’s finger skims over the fading yellow, his touch feather-light.   
  
“Are they from another customer?” He asks as he leans in to press a kiss to her lips. His heart aches for her, for the fact that she has to put up with people who couldn’t be bothered to be gentle with her, and he’s surprised by how strongly he feels about this.   
  
Baekhyun nods, and swallows again. “Are you angry–?”  
  
“No.” Kyungsoo says earnestly. “I’m not angry at you, if that’s what you’re wondering about. I just wish you would speak up to them when they get a little too rough with you.”  
  
“It’s my job to please. There’s nothing much I can do about it, and I definitely can’t piss my customers off. Complaints are detrimental to my reputation,” she says, and hooks her arms around his neck. Kyungsoo can hear a hint of sadness in her words, and he can’t stop himself from planting butterfly kisses on her bruises, as though it would make them heal faster. She shudders a little from his actions, but did nothing to stop him.   
  
Baekhyun throws her head backwards, her lips parted slightly as she gasps for air, when Kyungsoo moves downwards and flicks his tongue into her slit. It’s the only thing he can think of to please her, to make her happy, because Kyungsoo isn’t too good with sentimental words, and he doesn’t want to ruin anything by saying the wrong things.  
  
He hums in appreciation when her long fingers dig into his scalp, the pain sending jolts of pleasure down his spine and making his cock twitch. Baekhyun thrashes beneath him as his tongue darts in and out of her cunt, filthy moans continuously tumbling out of her lips. She cants her hips up to meet the thrusts of his tongue, her hands on his head pushing him impossibly closer to her wet heat, trying to get him to fuck in deeper.   
  
Kyungsoo decidedly likes the way his name sounds coming off her lips, hoarse and needy and punctuated with wanton cries of ‘oh God please fuck me faster faster  _faster_ ’ when he rubs her clit with the pad of his thumb, matching its pace with his tongue’s, his other hand kneading her breast and teasing her nipple before moving down to scissor her. She comes with a loud moan moments later from the double stimulation, her back arching far off the sofa, and Kyungsoo crawls back up to seal her lips with a kiss, swallowing her sobs and whimpers as her body comes down from her orgasm high.   
  
When Baekhyun’s breathing returns to normal, she wraps her arms around Kyungsoo’s neck, pulling him close and pressing their foreheads together. Kyungsoo smiles at the gesture, and briefly presses his lips against Baekhyun’s again.   
  
“Thank you,” Baekhyun breathes, and her voice is so tender that it makes Kyungsoo’s heart stutter and beat erratically.  
  
Not wanting to let her sense his pause, Kyungsoo quickly replies with a silent “What for?”, and feels thankful that his breaths aren’t quite even.   
  
“For being gentle with me. It’s all I can ever wish for.” Her voice is small, abashed, nothing like the headstrong, confident Baekhyun he’s used to seeing on stage, and Kyungsoo wonders for a moment if this is the true side of her when she’s away from the stage lights and costumes and shows. He decidedly likes this side of her more, and it triggers the urge in Kyungsoo to protect her, to ensure that she never gets hurt again.  
  
He shows this by gently cupping her cheeks and sealing his mouth with hers in another kiss, chaste but deep, hoping that she’ll be able to taste his sincerity somehow. She responds with a smile against his lips, her hands roaming over the expanse of his bare chest before wandering downwards to unzip his pants. Kyungsoo bites back a moan when she reaches into his boxers and wraps her fingers around his throbbing erection, and he thrusts shallowly into her fist, trying to get her to move faster.   
  
“Pants off,” she commands, and Kyungsoo is only too eager to comply, losing his slacks and boxers in one fluid motion before settling between her thighs again. Baekhyun has other plans in mind, however. She pushes him backwards so that his back is against the armrest of the sofa, and Kyungsoo gasps again when she bends down and nuzzles her cheek against his hard cock. He swore he would’ve cummed from the seductive look on her face as she glances at him to gauge for his reaction, if Baekhyun hadn’t formed a tight ring at the base of his cock with her fingers.   
  
Kyungsoo immediately stops Baekhyun when she lowers her lips to hover over the head of his cock, though. “Condom–” he starts, but Baekhyun only smiles at him and shakes her head.  
  
“I’m not worried about sucking you off without it,” she says, and as though proving her point, Baekhyun presses her tongue flat against the head of his cock and drags across it in an agonisingly slow manner, putting up a show just for him. “After all,” she licks her lips when she’s done, humming appreciatively at the saltiness of his precome on her tastebuds, “you’re not fucking someone else unprotected, are you?”   
  
Kyungsoo chokes a little at her bold question. “Unless you count my hand as another person–”   
  
He doesn’t get to finish his sentence, which gets cut off by a strangled moan when her lips stretch around his girth, hot and filthy and nothing like the other times when she had sucked him off with a layer of latex in the way. Kyungsoo can’t help but wonder how it would feel to have his cock in direct contact with the wet heat of her vagina, and the imagery proves to be too much when Kyungsoo spills his load down Baekhyun’s throat after only a few sucks. She swallows half of it before pulling her lips off Kyungsoo’s cock, allowing him to spurt the rest of his semen across her face, and Kyungsoo is embarrassed at how quickly he becomes half-hard again at the sight, with Baekhyun kneeling in front of him, his cum dripping down her cheeks and spilling out of the corner of her sinful mouth, leaving a trail of white down the elegant column of her neck and right between her breasts. Baekhyun knows he’s enjoying the sight, and she deliberately squeezes her breasts together with the insides of her arms, letting his cum pool in her cleavage.   
  
“Like what you see?” She grins, her thumb flicking absently over his slit, and another groan rumbles from Kyungsoo’s chest when her other hand reaches over to fondle his balls.   
  
“I can’t decide if I like the innocent you, or the dirty you more.” Kyungsoo grunts, throwing his head back in a silent moan, the muscles in his abdomen clenching when Baekhyun begins pumping his cock into full hardness again.  
  
“Well,” Baekhyun quips as she pulls out a condom from her purse on the table and rolls it on for him, “you have all night to find out.”   
  
Kyungsoo can’t say he doesn’t like the sound of that.  
  
  


\--

  
  
When Kyungsoo wakes up in the morning with a head of hair in his face, he stiffens in confusion for a very long moment, half-wondering if he’d accidentally entered the wrong house on the night before and stumbled into someone else’s bed. It isn’t until the last of the sleep clouding his mind has faded away, and he recognises the small star tattoo over the woman’s right shoulder blade that he remembers what had transpired on the previous night. Kyungsoo smiles to himself, feeling somewhat thankful that he’s able to wake up to find Baekhyun still sleeping in bed with him – she would always leave before the crack of dawn, but the late morning sun is creeping up on them now and Kyungsoo wonders just what has changed between them overnight. He’s not complaining, though.   
  
Kyungsoo tightens his arms around Baekhyun’s middle and buries his face in her hair, inhaling the scent of his shampoo lingering on it (he had insisted they cleaned up and showered before surrendering themselves to sleep), and he can feel the way the corners of his mouth stretches into a smile at the memories from last night, where Baekhyun had sank herself onto his cock and asked him to carry her into his bedroom without altering their positions after rolling the condom on for him. They had went on to having several more rounds of amazing sex, and Kyungsoo had ended it by making sweet love to her, slow and sensual, the way he had always dreamt of doing.   
  
There’s an odd sense of warmth bubbling in his chest as he thinks about how amazing it would be to wake up to the sight of Baekhyun every morning, and he can’t stop himself from pressing a kiss to the tip of her shoulder, then pushing her hair aside to press another to the curve of her neck.   
  
Baekhyun stirs a little in her sleep from the second kiss, turning over to face him, and Kyungsoo finds himself rendered breathless from the way her lashes slowly flutter open to reveal her brilliantly brown eyes. It takes a moment longer for her to reach full awareness, her eyes growing wide when she realises that she wasn’t in her own room. There’s a fleeting moment of panic reflected in her eyes then, and Kyungsoo doesn’t know if he had imagined the way Baekhyun had tried to pull herself out of his grip, but when he’s about to ask her what was wrong, Baekhyun had already relaxed in his hold, flashing him the brightest smile he has seen till date.   
  
“Good morning,” she greets, pressing a close-mouthed kiss to his lips, and the tension bleeds out of Kyungsoo. He deduces that he must have been thinking too much, and proceeds to push the matter to the back of his mind.  
  
“Good morning, beautiful. Did you sleep well?” Kyungsoo grins back as he plays with her hair, then caresses her cheek with the back of his forefinger before running it down the length of her bare arm. He loves the way she shivers under his touch and burrows herself into his chest, loves it even more when he knows he’s the one coaxing the reaction out of her.   
  
“Dousing me with cheese this early in the morning?” Baekhyun laughs and playfully prods him in the chest. “Someone has to do something about that before I grow fat from it all.”   
  
“I meant what I said, Baekhyun.” He breathes and steadies his nerves, putting on a serious expression. The way Baekhyun is looking up at him from his embrace is making his heart gallop wildly in his ribcage, and he hopes Baekhyun doesn’t notice it. “You’re beautiful,” Kyungsoo says again. “You’re beautiful no matter how I look at you.”   
  
This time, Baekhyun does actually blush, perhaps sensing the sincerity behind his words. She throws her arms around his waist and buries her face in his chest again, hiding her reddened cheeks from view. Kyungsoo finds it endearing and pulls her flush against him, planting soft kisses on her hair. “I take it that you don’t get complimented much?”   
  
“It’s not that.” Baekhyun mumbles. “I’m just not used to receiving such compliments from others, not when there’s Jongin and Sehun and–”   
  
Kyungsoo can hear the insecurities underlying her words, and he tips her chin up to lock his gaze with hers. “Hey,” Kyungsoo says, his voice gentle but firm. “I don’t know what the others have been telling you, but don’t ever let them compare you to another girl. You’re special in your own way.”   
  
“I–” Baekhyun looks overwhelmed by Kyungsoo’s words, at a loss of what to say, and there’s even tears welled up in her eyes, but the moment is interrupted when someone’s stomach growls rather loudly from hunger. Baekhyun flushes an even darker shade of red, while Kyungsoo laughs out loud before planting a kiss on her forehead in an attempt to wipe away her displeased pout.  
  
“Come on, let’s get you out of bed.” Kyungsoo is still chuckling away as he climbs out of the covers and pulls on a pair of pants over his boxers. “Go ahead and use the shower while I whip up something in the kitchen.”   
  
Baekhyun sits up on the bed and pulls the covers close to her bare chest as she watches him with a measured gaze. “Do you actually know how to cook?” She asks, evidently not quite believing him.   
  
Kyungsoo winks at her. “You’ll see,” he teases in a singsong voice, and disappears out the door before she could say anything else.  
  
  


\--

  
  
Baekhyun slumps back onto the bed the moment Kyungsoo walks out of the room, and buries her face in the nearest pillow she could find. It smells like Kyungsoo. She half-hopes she could suffocate herself to death on it, but she figures Kyungsoo probably wouldn’t be too thrilled to find her dead in his room, so she flips herself over to lie on her back, her gaze fixed on the whitewashed ceiling above her.  
  
The tension finds its way back into her muscles when she remembers about the dream which had jolted her awake earlier, and Baekhyun subconsciously wraps her arms around herself, trying hard to stop herself from shaking. It’s a good thing she had managed to put a rein on her emotions while Kyungsoo had been in the room with her, but now that he was gone and she’s all alone, it becomes difficult to hold everything back.   
  
Baekhyun squeezes her eyes shut and swallows against the invisible lump in her throat when the memories return and assault her conscious mind.   
  
Luhan wasn’t the only person who had been lucky enough to find love in their tainted industry – or so Baekhyun had thought. Baekhyun had been fortunate too, when she had met a certain Kim Jonghyun on one of the private parties she had been booked for back at the old club where she had worked at. Clichéd as it might sound, it had been love at first sight for Baekhyun. She had been greatly attracted to his gentle mannerisms and the way he lavished his attention on her, making her feel as though she was the only person he could see when she was in the room with him. Unlike all the other men she had dated, Baekhyun could actually see herself having a future with Jonghyun. Baekhyun was happy. She was contented.   
  
But everything changed overnight, and even now, Baekhyun had no idea what had gone wrong with their relationship. She shudders again at the final scene of her dreams before she had woken up, of Jonghyun’s hand coming down at a fast speed towards her face, the one place he  _knew_  he should never leave a mark upon.   
  
Baekhyun quickly clambers off the bed and drags herself into the shower before she turns into a complete wreck, and is glad that the hot water helps her keep her mind off of things.   
  
When she emerges from the bathroom, hair damp and dressed in one of Kyungsoo’s shirts she had taken the liberty of grabbing from his closet, Baekhyun is greeted by the mouth-watering smell of kimchi. Kyungsoo looks up from the dining table where he’s scooping some pasta onto two plates with a grin, and it sends Baekhyun staggering a little from how homely everything feels. Despite the initial chill from her earlier dream, Baekhyun feels oddly warmed by Kyungsoo’s heartfelt gesture, and her cheeks heat up uncharacteristically when he walks over and presses a kiss to her forehead before pulling her along to the table with him.  
  
“You came out right on time,” he quips happily as he pulls off his apron and settles right across her. Baekhyun’s half-expecting for him to ogle at her and make a passing comment about the way her legs are on full display, considering how his shirt is only barely covering her ass and Baekhyun has honestly experienced that one too many times with other men (which  _always_  ends up in another round of sex before they part ways), but Kyungsoo betrays her expectations once again. If anything, Kyungsoo looks as though he’s genuinely  _happy_  to have her there with him, and the thought itself makes Baekhyun feel a little guilty for comparing him to the other men she had had the misfortune of crossing paths with.   
  
Baekhyun pushes those confusing feelings to the back of her mind and takes a close look at Kyungsoo’s handiwork. Her stomach rumbles again (quietly,  _thank God_ ) at how delectable it looks. “This doesn’t look bad at all,” she comments, thoroughly impressed, and when her eyes flicker towards Kyungsoo, she finds him grinning at her still.   
  
“Kimchi spaghetti,” Kyungsoo tells her. “It’s a special recipe I inherited from my mother, and I’m sure the taste won’t disappoint either.”  
  
Baekhyun eyes him carefully as she picks up her fork and delivers a mouthful of pasta into her mouth, chewing slowly to savour the taste of it.  
  
Her eyes widen in surprise moments later, and she thinks  _this_  is heaven.  
  
  


\--

  
  
“Baekhyun unnie! You’re back!” Jongin’s shrill call makes Baekhyun wince. She had been trying to sneak into the apartment she shares with the younger woman before she had gotten caught, and she sighs in defeat when Jongin bounces out of her room and links their arms together, dragging her all the way to Baekhyun’s bedroom and seating her on the bed. “Where have you been all night? I was worried when you didn’t show up for work!”  
  
Apparently, that is a very big deal for Jongin.   
  
Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t Kangta tell you I had requested to take the night off?” She asks, and suddenly feels all too self-conscious when Jongin’s gaze wanders downwards to drink in the sight of Baekhyun’s cocktail dress. There’s a sudden, intense craving for Baekhyun to put Kyungsoo’s shirt on again; at least she felt infinitely more comfortable in them.  
  
Jongin let out a wolf-whistle just then, and Baekhyun flushes. “You were out on a fancy date last night, huh?” She enquires, a teasing lilt to her words. “It’s with Kyungsoo, isn’t it?”   
  
Baekhyun flops down on her bed and avoids looking directly at Jongin, but she can feel the way the mattress dips when Jongin climbs onto the bed with her and lies on Baekhyun’s side. “What does it matter? It’s nothing special anyway.” She mutters, though her heart skips a beat, and a small voice at the back of her mind screams at her for lying about it.  _Had_ she been lying when she said it wasn’t anything special?   
  
“Huh,” Jongin scoffs in disbelief. “You don’t usually go out on dates with your clients, let alone ones that require you to dress up like this.” She points out, then takes a closer look at Baekhyun’s face when she senses something was amiss. Baekhyun frowns at her and pushes Jongin’s face out of her personal bubble.  
  
“And,” Jongin starts again, “judging by the lack of makeup on your face and how you don’t actually smell like your usual body wash, you spent the night at his place, didn’t you?”   
  
When did Jongin turn into a bloodhound, anyway? “It’s not the first time I’ve spent the night at Kyungsoo’s place, Jongin. Why are you acting all surprised?” Baekhyun gives an exaggerated roll of her eyes, but the growing discomfort in her heart gnaws at her from the implications of Jongin’s words.   
  
“That’s true,” Jongin muses, “but you’re always back much earlier, with your makeup partially smudged and smelling of sex and sweat. So spill, how good had he been in bed? I bet you’ve had more than your usual rounds of sex yesterday.”   
  
Baekhyun suddenly feels so incredibly exposed, even though she knows she shouldn’t be, that she scrambles for her covers. Her cheeks are practically burning up from embarrassment now, but she knows Jongin isn’t going to let her off this easily until she hears what she wants to hear. Sometimes Baekhyun doesn’t know who actually is the older one between them both.   
  
“I don’t actually  _know_ , but he  _was_  gentle in bed.” She admits with a small voice, and the peculiar warmth is there once again. The corner of her mouth quirks up into a small smile at the memories from last night, at how Kyungsoo had made passionate love to her instead of fucking her into the bed like everyone else. Baekhyun could still feel the ghost of his touches lingering on her skin, a trail of searing heat down her torso thanks to his lips, the press of his plump lips on her forehead, the throbbing of his cock inside her, thrusting in a steadily increasing pace until they both reached their completion, the sweet words he’d whispered into her ear as they drifted off to sleep, the way his arms fit so perfectly around her midriff as though they belonged there, the way he nosed sleepily at her neck, his breaths warming the skin there.  
  
It was perfect, and Baekhyun secretly craves for more of that.   
  
Baekhyun doesn’t even realise she had said all of those aloud when she snaps back to reality and finds Jongin staring wide-eyed at her, astounded by her confession.  
  
“Oh, you are  _so_  far gone.” Jongin says after a particularly long pause, and suddenly Baekhyun feels afraid when her mind delightfully reminds her that this was how Jonghyun had treated her in the past before everything had eventually fallen apart.   
  
Her first instinct is to run.   
  


  
\--

  
  
There’s a frown creasing Kyungsoo’s forehead as he hears the words enunciated by the phone operator’s robotic voice, telling him that the number he had dialled was no longer in use. It’s the fifth consecutive time he’s hearing the words, and he vaguely wonders why he had even thought that things would be any different after the first try.   
  
Frustrated at the world and at himself, Kyungsoo flings his phone at the door, his mood lightening up a little when it connects with the wood with a loud thud and drops to the carpet. Moments later, though, Jongdae’s walking through the door of Kyungsoo’s office with a questioning look on his face. He bends down to pick Kyungsoo’s phone up and slides it across the table back to Kyungsoo as he drops himself onto the vacant chair across from Kyungsoo.  
  
“Did a customer piss you off majorly or something? It’s not like you to be this aggressive.” Jongdae says, tapping on the cracked screen of Kyungsoo’s phone. For one moment, Kyungsoo thinks Jongdae might be mocking him again, but then he notes the concern etched on his best friend’s face and he sighs, slumping into his seat.   
  
“No, it’s not a customer.” He says instead, and Kyungsoo is surprised by how tired he sounds, even to his own ears.  
  
“Baekhyun, then?” Jongdae prompts with a knowing look. Kyungsoo wants to groan at how perceptive his friend was, but guesses it’s only to be expected, seeing that Jongdae has known him since their junior high days. He rests his elbows on top of his desk and buries his face in his hands instead. Jongdae doesn’t even wait for Kyungsoo’s reply, and says, “You’re still bedding her, aren’t you?”  
  
Kyungsoo wonders if he’s imagining the wariness underlying Jongdae’s words. “Not for the past week I’m not.” He admits. It’s odd, he thinks, how quickly a person could vanish from his life without leaving a single warning. He doesn’t actually know what had gone wrong between them. Baekhyun has been ignoring all his calls and text messages for the past week, deactivating her number only this morning, and Kyungsoo hasn’t seen her since he’d dropped her off at her apartment after she had spent the night at his place.   
  
He was under the impression that Baekhyun had been happy when she was with him, so why?   
  
Jongdae sighs at his response. “I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, but this fight you’re having with her–”   
  
“Who said anything about us fighting?” Kyungsoo interrupts Jongdae with a frown. “I would probably feel marginally better if that’s actually the case, but it’s not. We didn’t get into an argument.” The words sound ridiculous, even to himself.   
  
“That doesn’t make sense.” Jongdae comments.   
  
“I know it doesn’t, but I just don’t know how else to explain it, okay?!” Kyungsoo raises his voice, and the remorse immediately grapples him when he realises that it was uncalled for. Jongdae’s concerned about him and yelling at him isn’t going to solve the problem. “Sorry,” he mutters in the end and scrubs his face, exhausted. “I’m not exactly in the best of moods right now.”   
  
“I understand,” Jongdae reaches over and pats his hand in a comforting gesture. “You’ve been working hard at this new project for the past week. Why don’t you take the night off and go unwind?”   
  
Kyungsoo sits up in attention, his brows knitted together in confusion. “But I can’t. The project–”  
  
“I’ll take care of it.” Jongdae insists, sending him a knowing look, and Kyungsoo belatedly gets what Jongdae is trying to imply.   
  
He smiles for what probably is the first time in a week, the action coming across as stiff to him, and thanks Jongdae for covering for his ass. Jongdae only laughs and tells him this is what friends are for – and that Kyungsoo owes him dinner once he patches things up with Baekhyun.  
  
  


\--

  
  
That night, Kyungsoo makes his way to Constellations for the first time in a long while – due to work obligations, he hasn’t been able to head down as much as he would’ve liked, and Baekhyun always accommodates to his schedule anyway by paying him a visit at his apartment on a regular basis. The place is as busy as he remembers it to be, perhaps even busier, but thankfully, he’s able to find a seat close to the stage right as the show for the night starts.   
  
It’s another one of those joint performances the club is famous for, though this time with an addition of a pink-haired beauty called Sehun. Kyungsoo recognises the name; Baekhyun had mentioned her in passing before. Kyungsoo watches as Baekhyun, Jongin, and Sehun got it on on stage, stripping each other down bit by slow bit. Jongin, in particular, makes a show of kissing Sehun in public, their tongues tangling visibly in the small space between their faces for everyone to see, while Baekhyun rubs herself up against Sehun’s ass. Together, Baekhyun and Jongin makes Sehun come on stage to the catcalls of the audience, and Kyungsoo is momentarily distracted by the column of Sehun’s long, pale neck and the way the sweat glistens on her skin under the stage lights.   
  
When the trio break apart to head to various areas of the bar, though, Kyungsoo immediately straightens himself in his seat, returning his attention to Baekhyun. The moment their gazes lock with each other’s, it feels as though time has momentarily stopped for them. Even in the darkness of the club, Kyungsoo can see the way Baekhyun’s eyeliner-rimmed eyes widen for a split second when she finds him in the audience looking at her, but she quickly averts her gaze from him. If she had been affected by his presence, it doesn’t show on her expressions.   
  
Kyungsoo holds his breath when Baekhyun struts purposefully in his direction, anticipating the moment when he can finally speak to her, but he goes completely stiff when Baekhyun walks right past him as though he were invisible, not even acknowledging him like she usually does. He turns around in his seat in confusion and chases after her with his eyes, and he feels his blood boiling in his veins when she gives another customer a lap dance instead.   
  
He easily identifies the emotion as jealousy, and the realisation of it sends his mind spinning. Kyungsoo wasn’t anyone special to Baekhyun, he knows, but he also knows that he  _wants_  to be the one to be by Baekhyun’s side, because he doesn’t think anyone else would treat her well enough, doesn’t trust them to. Kyungsoo startles and turns back to face the stage when a weight suddenly settles in his lap, and when he looks up, he finds Jongin watching him with an unreadable expression on her face.   
  
“Don’t look, or you’ll end up hurting even more.” Jongin leans in and whispers in his ear just then, though her hips are gyrating against his lap and Kyungsoo tries really hard to ignore the way the blood is pooling rapidly in his dick from the friction. “I’ll let you go in a while. If you want to talk to her, it’s best to wait till the end of the show.” Jongin tells him again, and Kyungsoo finds himself nodding in understanding.   
  
The very second the joint stage ends, though, Kyungsoo’s already rushing towards the club’s staff who usually handles the bookings for the private rooms. He knows Jongin had a point; he couldn’t possibly hope to iron things out with Baekhyun when the loud bass music is pounding in their ears, and everyone else’s eyes are on them. That was the only thing which held him back from grabbing Baekhyun off the customer she had been entertaining.   
  
Kyungsoo, however, did not expect what the staff member had to say about his request, and he blinks at the woman. “Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you right.” He chuckles awkwardly, fervently hoping that he had indeed misheard it.   
  
“Your name is Do Kyungsoo, am I right, sir?” The woman asks, and Kyungsoo nods in response. “Then I am correct. Miss Baekhyun has specifically mentioned that she will not accept any private bookings from you, sir. No matter how high the price.” She adds, almost as an afterthought.   
  
Now Kyungsoo is really bewildered. Baekhyun had told him once that she enjoyed accepting his private room bookings the most, because he never usually asked for any sexual favours, so why the sudden change in mind?  _Or,_  Kyungsoo thinks to himself rather bitterly,  _had all of those been cleverly crafted lies on her part?  
_  
“Did she mention why?” Kyungsoo gulps and asks when he deems his emotions stable enough for him to speak.  
  
The woman smiles at him wryly and gestures behind him. “She did not, Mr. Do, but perhaps you could ask her yourself.”   
  
Kyungsoo whips around so quickly that he swears he might’ve given himself a whiplash injury, but all of that is secondary when he’s greeted by the sight of Baekhyun’s stunned face looking back at him. It hurts him more than it should to see her, and the small distance separating them suddenly feels far too wide to cross. Again, Baekhyun averts her gaze and refuses to look Kyungsoo in the eye, her hands tightening on the arm of the customer who’s with her.   
  
“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo croaks, refusing to give up. “Can we talk? I promise it won’t take long.”   
  
Baekhyun practically ignores him and smiles at her customer instead. Kyungsoo feels as though he had just been talking to no one in particular. “Come, Mr. Kim. The room has been readied for us.” She says, and pulls the fair-skinned man along with her, a flirtatious edge to her every action. The pair walks past Kyungsoo as though he doesn’t even exist, and Kyungsoo lets his arm drop by his side, his gaze falling to the ground.   
  
He wonders absently, if the searing pain coming from his chest is the result of a broken heart.  
  
  


\--

  
  
Kyungsoo isn’t one to give up that easily, so he sneaks a visit to Constellations every chance he gets, even if he’s completely exhausted from work. If there’s one thing he’s deathly afraid of, it’s Baekhyun thinking that he has grown tired of her and has moved on, because there’s no way that could be true. Kyungsoo likes Baekhyun a little too much, and he’s still too intrigued by the sides of Baekhyun which he has seen glimpses of but hasn’t had the opportunity to explore just yet.  
  
However, no matter how many times he makes his way to Constellations in the next couple of weeks, the results remain the same. Baekhyun never goes to his table for lap dances anymore, nor does she acknowledge his presence in the audience, always walking past Kyungsoo without sparing him a single glance, as though he didn’t even exist in her eyes. Eventually, she had stopped coming over to the section he would be seated at altogether, and purposefully selected customers who were seated across the room from Kyungsoo.   
  
It hurts, more than Kyungsoo would like to admit, for him to see Baekhyun shining so brightly beneath the incandescent stage lights, especially when there seems to be a melancholic aura surrounding her every action now. The change is subtle, and Kyungsoo wonders if he’s the only person who notices it, because everyone else around him still appears to be greatly aroused by Baekhyun’s provocative dance moves on stage.   
  
In fact, it hurts so much that Kyungsoo can’t bear to watch her in the end, and squeezes his eyes shut instead.  
  
He doesn’t catch Baekhyun’s concerned gaze when he stands up and leaves before the performance is even over; the look in her eyes is gone before anyone even notices it.   
  
  


\--

  
  
Kyungsoo tries to steer clear of Constellations for a week, to see if he yearns to see Baekhyun any less that way, considering that he can no longer watch her performances without feeling sick to the stomach from the jealousy that consumes him.  
  
It doesn’t. Rather, the plan backfires, and he finds himself longing to see Baekhyun even more, to talk to her, to run his fingers through her hair, to kiss her chastely on her soft lips. There has been more than a time when Kyungsoo wanders aimlessly down the streets of Seoul after working hours, only to find himself standing outside Constellations at the end of it. A fierce internal struggle often ensues, where he’d always decide against walking into the club, but as the days pass, the decision becomes harder and harder to make.   
  
So he stops struggling against his own desires, and let his feet carry him back into the establishment.  
  
  


\--

  
  
Baekhyun slumps into the chair at her dressing table the moment she sets foot in the club, the exhaustion so bone-deep that she can’t find the will in her to do anything at all. Although she  _has_  been working a little harder in the past few weeks – more to fill up her time and prevent her mind from wandering elsewhere rather than for the money – Baekhyun didn’t think she would be  _this_  tired.   
  
She wonders if it’s an additive effect from the dreams – nightmares? – which have been plaguing her for a long while now. The recurrent dreams are more like her reliving her past with Jonghyun, and they all start and end in the same way – of his gentle smiles and even gentler touches, then of his abusive words and even more abusive actions. Baekhyun really doesn’t need a constant reminder of the way he’d slapped her when she had tried to break things off with him, but her mind doesn’t grant her the reprieve she greatly needs. She thought she had gotten over her past, but apparently not.  
  
Sometimes, the dreams would change, and instead of Jonghyun, Kyungsoo’s the one dealing the blows. On those days, Baekhyun wakes up drenched in cold sweat, the chill seeping into the deepest pit of her stomach and never seems to go away for hours on end. She knows she’s being unfair to Kyungsoo for picturing him in such a distasteful role, but no matter how hard Baekhyun tries, she can’t dispel those images.  
  
Baekhyun heaves a sigh and scrubs her face tiredly. She doesn’t know how long this is going to keep up, but she certainly hopes it’s going to be sooner rather than later. She doesn’t think her mental stability is going to keep up any longer if it persists.   
  
“You know,” someone suddenly says, and Baekhyun literally jumps in her seat, hand clutching her chest in an effort to calm herself down when she realises it’s only Jongin. Jongin doesn’t seem remorseful to have scared her, though, and continues, “you’re kind of being really on the edge these days, unnie. Are you okay?”   
  
“I would probably live a little longer if you would stop creeping up on me like that, Jongin.” Baekhyun scowls at her friend, but she’s too exhausted to actually be angry at Jongin.  
  
Jongin, on the other hand, looks at her oddly, as though Baekhyun had suddenly developed a third eye on her forehead. “I’ve been sitting here doing my makeup next to you for the past ten minutes, Baekhyun.” She says, and Baekhyun’s eyes widen because  _holy shit_ , had she been that distracted? “Now you’re really scaring me. What’s up?”   
  
Baekhyun gulps and turns away, reaching for one of her makeup brushes. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”   
  
“Is this about Kyungsoo?” Jongin prompts. Baekhyun stiffens, but doesn’t turn to look at Jongin because it would definitely give her away. Jongin takes Baekhyun’s silence as her permission to continue. “I’m not blind, Baek. I can see how you’ve been deliberately avoiding him in all your shows. Did something happen between the both of you?”   
  
“Nothing happened.” Baekhyun says; it was the truth, anyway. The problem lies with Baekhyun and not Kyungsoo, but Baekhyun isn’t quite sure if she wants to get a lengthy lecture for that right now. “Quit prodding.”   
  
“I wouldn’t care as much if your performances aren’t getting affected by how shitty your mood is, but they are. And you’re smoking a lot more, too. You promised.” Jongin chastises, and Baekhyun wonders, not for the first time, just who is the older one between them both. Then Jongin’s expressions mellow down, and she pulls Baekhyun into a hug. Baekhyun’s startled by the sudden gesture, and the shock is probably the only thing that’s keeping her from bawling her eyes out. “I’m worried about you, unnie. I just wish you would talk to me about it instead of hiding away all the time. We’re friends, aren’t we? Or do you consider me as just a colleague and nothing else?”   
  
Jongin sounds so painfully young, and Baekhyun instinctively tightens her grip on the material of Jongin’s sweater. “Of course I consider you as a friend, Jongin,” she tells her soothingly. “I just– I don’t know what to do about this whole thing.”   
  
“Is Kyungsoo giving you a hard time?” Jongin queries, and Baekhyun doesn’t actually know what to tell her because, no, he hasn’t. In fact, Kyungsoo has been nothing short of the perfect gentleman to her, always putting her comfort above everything else, never forcing her to do something that she’s reluctant to. That’s what makes Baekhyun like him so,  _so_ much, yet it’s also what makes Baekhyun too afraid to go on. She doesn’t want things to end up the same way it had when she was with Jonghyun. It’s better to cut things off before it could even get to that stage.   
  
“No,” she sighs in the end, remembering that Jongin’s still waiting for her reply, “but it’s complicated. Things spiralled out of hand.”   
  
It’s not a complete lie. Baekhyun hadn’t expected herself to share such a complex relationship with Kyungsoo, with too much emotional involvement yet not nearly enough at the same time. She should have stuck to her initial intentions when she’d given Kyungsoo her number – to flirt and get a good fuck or two out of him, and nothing else. Maybe she wouldn’t be this troubled right now. Maybe she wouldn’t have to relive those traumatising days with Jonghyun through her dreams, over and over and over again. Maybe. There are so many maybes.   
  
She knows she’s the one pushing Kyungsoo out of her life right now, but Baekhyun can’t stop herself from feeling that spark of delight when she spots his face effortlessly in the crowd, only to get sick in the stomach when dreams overlap with reality and she can no longer pick them apart, the fear latching onto her so quickly, so suddenly, that she doesn’t even have time to prepare herself for it. It’s only by a supreme amount of luck that she hasn’t thrown up on stage yet from the nauseating thoughts. Her mind voice laughs derisively at how incredibly fucked up she is right now, and she wishes it would just shut up.  
  
Jongin stays silent, still hugging Baekhyun, and allows her to iron out her thoughts. The silence is more than enough to allow Baekhyun to form a solution in her head, and she closes her eyes at the thought of it, but doesn’t tell Jongin. It’s her problem, her decision to make.  
  
Maybe she’ll come to regret it and be even more miserable than she already is. Maybe she’ll feel liberated after a couple of days, weeks, months.  
  
Maybe.  
  
For now, Baekhyun thinks she has gained enough strength to get her through the night. It’s not much, but she has to start somewhere.   
  
  


\--

  
  
“What?!” Kyungsoo practically yells, outraged. There are people staring at him now, but he doesn’t care. “There has got to be a mistake somewhere! I didn’t even  _do_  anything to warrant that!”   
  
The bouncer, a tall young man with a clipped Chinese accent takes another look at Kyungsoo’s ID and then back at Kyungsoo. “Do Kyungsoo, right? One of our stars have lodged a complaint to the boss saying that you’ve been harassing her.” He says, and Kyungsoo flushes red all the way down to his chest. There isn’t a need to guess to know that said star is Baekhyun, but harassing? Was she upset at him for never sitting through her performances anymore? “You’re no longer permitted to enter the premises. I’m sorry.”   
  
Kyungsoo chances a look at the bouncer’s nametag. Tao doesn’t sound all that sorry for refusing his access.   
  
Then an idea comes to mind, and Kyungsoo chews on his bottom lip for a brief moment before pulling his wallet out and retrieving a 50,000 won bill from within. “Look, just let me in this time. I need to talk to Baekhyun, and when I’m done, I’ll leave.” He tells Tao, but the bouncer’s expression darkens, and Kyungsoo suddenly finds his arm twisted painfully behind his back, and Tao’s breathing down his neck.   
  
“Don’t insult my integrity.” Tao growls at him, and the sound is low, dangerous. Kyungsoo swallows nervously. “Orders are orders, and I am not about to let you bribe your way in.”   
  
“What’s going on over here, boys?” A new female voice with a slight accent joins them then, and Kyungsoo glances up, half-wincing from the pain in his arm as he tries to take in the features of the owner of the voice.   
  
A Chinese doll with a head of long, brown hair, dressed elegantly in a flowing white blouse and a pair of skinny jeans stand before them, an eyebrow quirked at the scene before her. Tao, however, seems to have recognised the woman, and immediately releases his hold on Kyungsoo, but not before giving him a rough shove that causes Kyungsoo to trip on the uneven sidewalk. “Luhan jie,” he greets with a respectful bow, and for a moment, Kyungsoo wonders if she’s someone from the mafia.  
  
The woman called Luhan thwacks Tao on the head with a swift hand, her expressions unchanging. “How many times have I told you not to greet me like that, Zitao? You’re making me look like the wife of a mafia boss. You know how Kris doesn’t like that.” She says serenely, then takes in the sight of Kyungsoo massaging his sore arm. “What seems to be the problem here?”   
  
“He’s–” Tao starts, only to be interrupted by another voice.  
  
“Do Kyungsoo. You’re here to look for Baekhyun unnie, am I right?” Jongin’s leaning against the entrance to Constellations with a knowing smile on her face, and Kyungsoo flushes before inclining his head slightly in greeting. Exactly how loud had the commotion been for Jongin to be alerted?   
  
“For Baekhyun, huh.” Luhan muses. Kyungsoo suddenly feels all too self-conscious with both Jongin’s and Luhan’s gazes pinned on him.  
  
“Y–yes,” he stammers a little, and swallows hard. “I need to talk to her about something, but she has been avoiding me for a while–”   
  
“What do you intend to tell her if you do see her, then?” Jongin challenges, uncrossing her arms and taking a couple of steps forward. Her heels clack loudly against the concrete. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo can see Luhan watching their exchange with great amusement.  
  
“I–” Yes, what exactly does Kyungsoo wants to tell Baekhyun? That he’s sorry? Sorry for what? “I don’t know.”   
  
“There’s no place for love here, Kyungsoo-sshi. So I honestly don’t know why you even bother.” Jongin says again, and Kyungsoo is taken aback greatly by the statement.   
  
“But I’m not looking for  _love_ ” is the first thing that Kyungsoo blurts, because it really isn’t, though his words only seem to make the predatory light in Jongin’s eyes burn brighter. The corner of her red lips curl up into a dangerous smirk, one that tells Kyungsoo that’s not the answer Jongin’s expecting.   
  
“Then what exactly  _are_  you looking for?” She asks, checking her perfectly manicured nails with disinterest.  
  
“I–” Kyungsoo opens his mouth to say something,  _anything_ , but he can’t. Not when he has no clue what he wants out of this, either.   
  
“If you intend to play around with Baekhyun unnie’s feelings, then I would strongly advise you to never set foot here again.” Jongin finishes up for him, and his insides turn cold. “I do not take kindly to anyone who dares hurt my friends, and Zitao over here will be more than glad to give you a  _very_  painful lesson on my behalf.”   
  
“I am not playing around with Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo raises his voice out of frustration and perhaps a little bit of anger. “I just– I don’t know, okay? Baekhyun means a lot to me, but I have no idea where we stand.” Kyungsoo runs a hand through his hair and turns away from the group, chastising himself mentally for being such an indecisive fucker who can’t even determine his own feelings for Baekhyun. For the first time in his life, Kyungsoo feels that he is an utter failure at things.  
  
“Then go.” Luhan, who has remained silent all this while, speaks up with a smile. Kyungsoo turns around to regard her. “Go and figure things out, and come back after you do. Going in like this when neither of you are ready won’t solve anything.”   
  
Kyungsoo stares with his mouth agape for a moment, not knowing what to say. In the end, he opts to give Luhan a respectful bow instead, and when he straightens himself, there’s a faint smile on his lips. “Thank you,” is all that he tells her, and Luhan waves at him as he turns around to leave.  
  
Luhan and Jongin watch his retreating back for a while, and are still watching when Kyungsoo pauses in the distance, taking one last lingering look at Constellations, looking as though he could see Baekhyun within, before he assimilates completely into the Hongdae night crowd and disappears from sight. Luhan’s pleased by the determination she sees in those big, round eyes.  
  
“Something good is going to come out of this, I’m sure.” Luhan muses to herself, then turns around to envelop Jongin in a hug. “You’re quite the impressive actress, you little rascal.”  
  
Jongin only laughs and tries to shrug nonchalantly. “Anything for Baekhyun unnie, really. I just want her to be happy.”   
  
“Don’t we all?” Luhan sighs wistfully. “Thanks for letting me know, though. Baekhyun can be a little stubborn when there’s no one around to talk some sense into her.”   
  
“I should be the one thanking you, Han unnie. I tried getting Baekhyun unnie to tell me what was wrong, but she would always change the subject. You’re the only one who knows her the best, so I had to ring you up for help.”   
  
Luhan chuckles and pats Jongin fondly on the cheek. “You’re always welcomed to call me, silly. Shall we go see Baekhyun now?”   
  
Jongin nods and starts guiding Luhan towards their dressing room, but she pauses midway when she remembers something. She runs back to Zitao, and gives him a quick peck on the cheek, winking at him when he appears stunned by her actions.  
  
“Thanks for the help, Zitao! You’re the best!” She calls out as she rejoins Luhan, leaving Zitao to wave at her in a dazed manner, a hand covering his cheek where the warmth of her lips still linger there.   
  
  


\--

  
  
Baekhyun distractedly dabs some blusher onto her cheeks, her mind wandering off elsewhere, when someone suddenly covers her eyes from behind and makes her jump in her seat.   
  
“Guess who~?” The owner of the pair of soft hands ask, and Baekhyun practically squeals when she recognises the voice.  
  
“Han unnie!” Baekhyun practically leaps at her and pulls her into a hug. It’s been too long, way too long since she’d last seen Luhan, and she momentarily forgets about the problems plaguing her mind. “How did you get in here?”   
  
Luhan shoots an inconspicuous look at the door. “I have Jongin to thank. I hope you don’t mind me dropping by on a silly whim?”   
  
“Of course not!” Baekhyun cries out. “I’m really glad to see you.” Then she takes a look at Luhan, and finds that the woman has some lingering questions on her mind that she’s itching to ask Baekhyun. “But… you’re not exactly here on a whim, are you?” She asks Luhan suspiciously.   
  
“Well,” Luhan starts, pulling Baekhyun to sit with her on the nearby sofa. “I heard something concerning you and a man called Do Kyungsoo–”  
  
It’s all that’s needed to get Baekhyun riled up. “I’m going to strangle that little brat for rattling off–”   
  
“Baekhyun, sit.” Luhan immediately grabs her by the wrist and sends her a stern look. Baekhyun cowers, and obediently sits down. “Jongin means well. She tells me you’ve been miserable ever since you’ve started avoiding Kyungsoo, so why don’t you let me know what’s going on? You trust me, don’t you?”   
  
Baekhyun freezes for a moment, and then sighs in defeat, slumping against Luhan and pillowing her head with Luhan’s shoulder. “Kyungsoo is– He’s sweet, and he’s practically the perfect gentleman when he’s with me.”  
  
“But?” Luhan turns her head a little to look at Baekhyun.   
  
“Do you remember Kim Jonghyun?” Baekhyun mumbles, and she hears Luhan’s sharp intake of breath next to her. Of course she remembers; Luhan’s probably the only person who knows about Baekhyun’s past with Jonghyun, knows how Baekhyun had suffered in the relationship. Baekhyun launches into an in-depth explanation of her complicated relationship with Kyungsoo, and the dreams she had started having some months ago, which had triggered all of the avoiding.   
  
When she’s done, Luhan hums thoughtfully as she threads her fingers through Baekhyun’s soft locks. “I understand where your fears are coming from, but don’t you think it’s unfair for you to drop everything so suddenly without even telling him?”   
  
Baekhyun curls into herself at the question. “I know that, but I can’t help it, unnie. Every time I think about Kyungsoo, Jonghyun comes to mind, and I just… I get _scared_.”   
  
“First things first,” Luhan says, “how do you feel about Kyungsoo?”   
  
Baekhyun shakes her head. “I don’t know. It’s all so confusing.”  
  
“Do you think about him a lot, then?” Luhan prompts again, and there’s a short pause before Baekhyun nods.  
  
“More than I should, maybe, especially when there’s nothing between us.”   
  
Luhan presses her cheek against the top of Baekhyun’s head. “But you kept him around for so long.”   
  
“Because he’s…  _nice_  to me, but he’s treating me so much like Jonghyun had in the beginning that it scares me. I don’t want history to repeat itself.” Baekhyun says, and she can hear the way her own voice chokes up with emotions. “What should I do, unnie?”   
  
“I think you should give a chance to yourself, and to him.” Luhan tells her. “If you really like him, that is. Maybe you need some time to think about this whole thing, and decide whether he’s worth the risk. You can’t possibly run away from every single man who treats you a little too well, Baek. There will come a day when you have to face your fears. Why not start now?”   
  
Baekhyun chews on her lower lip, and clings onto Luhan’s arm a little tighter, forcing the tears back. There’s a ring of truth to Luhan’s words, but Baekhyun still feels apprehensive over it. So she says nothing, and depends on Luhan’s steady breathing to calm herself down instead.   
  
  


\--

  
  
Kyungsoo’s car skids to a complete stop by the roadside in his haste, nearly running into several party-goers who swear at him colourfully when he gets out of his car. He can’t find himself to care when they’re completely unhurt; the frantic pounding of his heart is making it impossible for him to stay rational, and Baekhyun is all that he can think about right now.   
  
Kyungsoo had dropped everything at work when he received an emergency call from Jongin, telling him that something had happened to Baekhyun. Even if Jongin hadn’t demanded for him to make his way down to Constellations immediately, Kyungsoo would’ve done it anyway. He’s only thankful Jongdae’s there to cover his ass again, but the way Jongdae had shot him a knowing look and the way he’d bade Kyungsoo goodbye with a teasing lilt gnaws at him.   
  
He nearly trips over his own foot when he arrives at the entrance to Constellations, only to see Tao standing guard at the door. A shiver runs down Kyungsoo’s spine when he remembers about the incident a week ago, where Tao had nearly twisted his arm off, and he doesn’t really want a repeat of that incident. Just as he’s fretting about how he should get into the club without risking himself getting thrown out in the process, a slender set of fingers wrap around his wrist and starts dragging him away before Kyungsoo could even blink.   
  
Thankfully, it’s only Jongin. “I’m getting you in through the backdoor, but you have to keep quiet. I don’t want Kangta to behead me if he finds me smuggling you in.”   
  
“I will,” Kyungsoo promises, and his breath sounds are loud in his ears, intermixed with the persistent  _clack, clack, clack_  of Jongin’s boots against concrete when he remembers about the emergency situation Jongin had called him up for. “What happened to Baekhyun?”   
  
“That idiot.” Jongin hisses. “I don’t know what has gotten into her, but she’s been miserable all week, and she completely forgot about holding back with the drinks today.” She tells Kyungsoo. “Now she’s absolutely wasted, but I can’t get away from the club to bring her home.”   
  
Kyungsoo nearly crashes into Jongin when she stops abruptly in front of a set of doors, which Kyungsoo presumes leads to their dressing room, and ultimately, where Baekhyun is. Kyungsoo’s taken aback when Jongin suddenly spins around and grabs him by the shoulders, and Jongin’s gaze is burning into his. He wants to look away, but he finds that he can’t. “You’ll help me get her back safely, won’t you?”   
  
Kyungsoo swallows. “Y–yeah.” He nods, and Jongin beams.   
  
“I knew I could count on you, Kyungsoo-sshi.” She tells him, and thrusts a bunch of keys into Kyungsoo’s palm. “This is her set of keys. I’m leaving her in your hands!”   
  
With that, Jongin’s bounding back into the main area club through the staff entrance, leaving Kyungsoo outside the dressing room. It takes Kyungsoo another brief moment to calm his nerves, before he steps into the room.   
  
His breath catches in his throat when he finds Baekhyun curled up on the red suede sofa by the corner, her face red and very visibly drunk. She’s mumbling and throwing her head around feverishly, and Kyungsoo’s nails dig into his palms at the sight. She’s a complete wreck, nothing like the beautiful girl he’s come to know and lo–   
  
Kyungsoo wonders what exactly had happened for her to be reduced to this state.   
  
Swallowing thickly, Kyungsoo pads across the room and closes the distance between him and Baekhyun. She doesn’t stir, even when Kyungsoo gently brushes her hair out of her face and cups her cheek. He grimaces at the strong smell of alcohol on her. Kyungsoo can’t even bear to imagine how many bottles of hard liquor she must’ve downed tonight.   
  
“Come on,” he exhales, even though Baekhyun probably can’t hear him, and scoops Baekhyun into his arms. “Let’s get you home.”   
  
She’s lighter than he remembered her to be, and Kyungsoo wonders if she hadn’t been eating well at all. His heart constricts at the thought as he looks down at the sleeping Baekhyun in his arms; she looks so small, so frail, so vulnerable, and once again, Kyungsoo wants to be the one to protect her.   
  
Throughout the entire ride home, Kyungsoo keeps glancing worriedly at Baekhyun in the back seat, looking out for any signs that she might want to throw up. He relaxes – if only slightly – when her condition remains unchanged, and he heaves a sigh of relief when he finally pulls up on the driveway of her apartment.   
  
Baekhyun’s still in the throes of her alcohol-induced daze when Kyungsoo carries her into her apartment, and Kyungsoo’s surprised when she suddenly wraps her arms around his neck the moment he puts her down on her bed. He stays still for a moment, holding his breath to see if she might be awake, but he relaxes again when Baekhyun’s hold on him loosens and wriggles out of it without waking her up. Kyungsoo pads around the apartment, looking for a basin and a clean towel so that he can clean her up a little. It’s not difficult, when Jongin and Baekhyun are both such organised people – or perhaps they don’t stay home much, so it isn’t in a mess.   
  
He sits himself by Baekhyun’s bedside, and delicately wipes off the makeup for her with the help of some makeup remover he finds lying around on her dressing table. He notes how she has a much thicker layer of makeup covering her skin now, the blusher staining her cheeks bright pink, her eyeliner done over the top. But he’s even more surprised when he’s done stripping the rest of the eyeshadow off. The dark circles under her eyes are heavy, seemingly permanently inked there, and Kyungsoo reaches forward to smooth them out, even if he knows it’s not going to help. He deduces that she must have lost a lot of sleep, and his heart breaks just a little more at the thought.   
  
When a shiver wracks through Baekhyun’s body, Kyungsoo immediately removes his coat and covers her with it, and she falls back into a comfortable sleep, curling up on her bed. Kyungsoo strokes her cheek gently, and smiles wistfully as he watches her.   
  
“I wish you’d tell me what’s going on, or what I’ve done wrong that you had to avoid me.” He says quietly, hearing the soft intake and exhale of breaths filling the spaces around him. “I’ve thought about things, you know, after I met Luhan outside the club the other day, and I’m sorry I hadn’t done that earlier. Maybe we wouldn’t be suffering like this if I had.”   
  
He pauses for a moment to plant a soft kiss on the tip of her nose, heart leaping when Baekhyun stirs a little and smiles in her sleep. It’s probably subconscious, but Kyungsoo’s more than satisfied with it. He hasn’t seen her smile in a very long while, and he’s starting to miss it dearly.   
  
“I love you, Baekhyun,” he finally says to the darkness enveloping them; it’s probably the first time he’s admitting it, even to himself. He’s overcome with the realisation out of the blue, with Baekhyun’s bright smiles and tinkling laughter and playful whispers in mind, and the way her petite body fits perfectly in his arms. “I don’t know what took me so long to realise this, but I really do. You’re all that I can think of, and it really kills me that you’re not talking to me at all.” An exhale. “I just– I’ll understand if you don’t feel the same way, but all I really want is for you to be happy.”   
  
Another sigh escapes his lips again. “I sound like a coward right now, telling you all these things when you’re not even awake to hear them. But I hope you’ll give me a chance to tell you everything again, because I don’t care how many times I’ll have to repeat them. I just want you to know how I feel.”   
  
Kyungsoo’s startled when his phone suddenly rings in his pocket, the sound too obnoxiously loud in the peaceful silence that had filled the room just moments ago, and he scrambles to answer it. “Hello?”   
  
“Is your emergency over, or can you come help me out with a brand new crisis on our side?” It’s Jongdae, and Kyungsoo can hear the tenseness in his voice, even though he knows Jongdae is trying to suppress it. He chances a look at Baekhyun and watches the steady rise and falls of her chest for a moment, and pulls himself to stand.  
  
“I’ll be back as soon as possible. Sorry.” He says, and ends the call, his eyes never leaving Baekhyun. But eventually Kyungsoo does tear his eyes away from her sleeping form, and adjusts his coat around her before he closes her bedroom door behind him and lets himself out of the house.  
  
  


\--

  
  
Baekhyun wakes up with the mother of all hangovers the next morning, her brain throbbing painfully in the confines of her skull, and she feels like death. She holds her head in her hands as she gingerly pushes herself to sit on the bed, and is utterly glad when she finds a strip of aspirin sitting on her bedside table along with a glass of water. She quickly takes that and holds back the bile that’s threatening to rise through the column of her oesophagus, willing the pain to go away.   
  
When the headache subsides, though, she’s suddenly all too aware that she’s in her own room, with absolutely no recollection how she’d ended up back home. Baekhyun vaguely remembers how her customer had forced glass after glass of vodka into her hand the previous night, refusing to stop even though her hands were already shaking from the amount of alcohol in her system. If anything, she’s glad there isn’t a telltale ache between her legs, which means she hadn’t been taken advantage of while she had been passed out.   
  
Carefully, she manipulates herself to climb off her bed, though her gaze drops to the ground when something falls out of her lap. Baekhyun frowns in confusion when she finds a man’s coat lying there, and when she picks it up from the floor, she catches a whiff of a familiar scent. It’s the scent of the cologne Kyungsoo had started using fairly recently – one that Baekhyun had bought for him on a whim.  
  
She shakes her head to clear those ridiculous thoughts. It can’t be his.   
  
Baekhyun pads out of her room with the coat still in her arms when she hears some noises coming from the living room, only to find Jongin watching her favourite Pororo cartoon on the sofa.   
  
“Jongin,” Baekhyun calls out hoarsely, but it’s more than enough to catch the younger woman’s attention. “Did you– were you the one who brought me home yesterday?”   
  
Jongin just smiles mysteriously at her. “Does that coat in your possession look like something that belongs to me?”   
  
“No–” Baekhyun starts, and shakes her head again, feeling incredulous. “Kyungsoo? This is Kyungsoo’s?”   
  
“Looks like you already have your answer.” Jongin shrugs. She moves aside and allows Baekhyun to take the other spot on the sofa when Baekhyun walks over dazedly, muting the television for their upcoming conversation.   
  
“I… don’t understand. Why would he do that?”   
  
Jongin looks at Baekhyun as though she’d just asked her what was her own name. “Isn’t it obvious?” She asks. “He cares for you, Baekhyun unnie. Genuinely. He dropped everything and rushed to the bar when I told him you were completely wasted. Han unnie told me about your past with Jonghyun, and–” Jongin fidgets a little. “And I don’t think he’ll end up doing the same things to you. Why don’t you give him a chance?”   
  
Baekhyun tightens her grip on the black coat in her hands and presses it close to her chest, her heart wrenching at the thought of Kyungsoo and the things he’s done for her. No man in her life has ever regarded her this highly before, or treated her with as much care. Luhan was right; she isn’t being fair to him, or to herself, and she shouldn’t have compared Kyungsoo to Jonghyun, no matter how much her mind tries to do so. She should’ve trusted in him more.  
  
Jongin, who notices the way Baekhyun had suddenly fallen silent, wraps an arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder and pulls her close. “You’ve been suffering for so long, Baekhyun. I’ve never seen you happier than when you were with Kyungsoo. Give yourself the chance to be happy. You deserve it.”   
  
Jongin said those words with such exquisite tenderness that it tugs at Baekhyun’s heartstrings, and within the next moment, Baekhyun found herself in tears, sobbing uncontrollably in Jongin’s arms from the stress that she has been going through and the nightmares which have been plaguing her nights.   
  
She has never craved for happiness as much as she does now, and she finds that she wants Kyungsoo to be the one giving her that.   
  
  


\--

  
  
Another two nights pass him by before Kyungsoo finds himself at Constellations once again, feeling more prepared than ever. He’s still banned from entering the club, though Tao tells him he’ll overlook this on Jongin’s behalf, and shows him the way to the backdoor. Kyungsoo doesn’t know what to say, except to thank Tao profusely for it.   
  
He finds his way to the dressing room from memory, and bumps into Jongin outside. She merely smiles and informs him that Baekhyun’s inside, and Kyungsoo thanks her too for helping him create so many chances for him to meet with Baekhyun.   
  
“You screw this up, or hurt Baekhyun, and I’ll kick your ass myself,” Jongin tells him, and gives Kyungsoo an encouraging push through the doors, wishing him good luck before she disappears down the corridor.   
  
Kyungsoo smiles and takes in a deep breath, silently making his way around the first row of dressing tables in search of Baekhyun. Baekhyun’s already fully dressed when he finds her, makeup done much thicker than he’s used to seeing on her, and a pair of five-inch stilettos strapped to her feet. He doesn’t know why, but he feels as though her getup is concealing much of what she feels from those who don’t actually know her.  
  
But to Kyungsoo, all he can see is the sorrow and the suffering she has been through. He’s overcome with the sudden urge to embrace her from behind, but doesn’t. It would be inappropriate. So he settles for clearing his throat to get her attention instead.   
  
Baekhyun inhales sharply when she reels around at the sound and finds him standing there, her face going paler under her makeup, as though she couldn’t believe that he was actually here with her. “Kyungsoo? What are you doing here?”   
  
Kyungsoo sucks in a deep breath. “I’m here to see you.” He says, and on the first sign of movement, he reaches out for her then lets his hand drop when he realises what he’s doing. “Please, don’t run away from me. I just want to talk.” Kyungsoo pleads.  
  
Baekhyun angles her body slightly to look at him, but her hand on the doorknob relaxes. “Why?”   
  
“I wanted to see how you were doing after that night,” he tells her, and from the way her eyes widen just a little, he knows by instinct that Baekhyun knew he had been the one to carry her home. “You drank a little too much, and–” Kyungsoo curses inwardly when he feels his courage waning, and he chews on his lower lip hesitantly. “I’ll leave if you don’t want to see me hanging around.”   
  
“No, wait.” Baekhyun calls after him. Kyungsoo pauses, raising his gaze hopefully at her. “Why do you care so much about me?” She asks again, and Kyungsoo can hear the cautiousness and weariness in her words.   
  
“Because I love you, Baekhyun.” Kyungsoo breathes, and Baekhyun’s eyes widen further.   
  
She blinks at him in disbelief. “Why  _me_? I’m nothing but a lowly stripper in a club, nothing but a personal slut to the customers who are willing to spare a look at me, so  _why_ , Kyungsoo? Make me understand.” Baekhyun says, and her tone is so full of self-derision that it hurts Kyungsoo to hear them.  
  
This time, he can’t stop himself from closing the distance between them and pulling her into his embrace, and he doesn’t care if she’ll push him away; he’ll hold on as tightly as he can. He wants her to know he’s not going to let her go, not now, not ever. “I have never seen you in such a light. From the very beginning, I saw you as a woman, and spoke to you and respected you as such. I still see you as someone I want to protect, that I want to care for, and if you’ll allow me, I’ll even pay to break your contract with the club. I want to give you the freedom you deserve, Baekhyun, not watch you getting chained up here.”   
  
Baekhyun gasps at his words, and her hands reach up to fist the material of his shirt. Kyungsoo can feel her trembling in his arms, and he holds on tighter. “No… no one has ever offered to do that for me,” she says quietly. Her voice is tearful now. “All everyone does is to offer a stack of bills in exchange for my body, but not  _this_.”   
  
“You’re worth it, Baekhyun.” Kyungsoo tells her; he desperately wants to convince her that this isn’t a dream, that he isn’t making empty promises. “You’re worth every single minute of my life, and your existence is priceless to me. So please,  _please_  trust in me.”   
  
There’s a small sniff, and the tips of Baekhyun’s fingers dig deeper into his shirt, but before Baekhyun can say anything, someone walks in then, causing Kyungsoo and Baekhyun to jump apart.   
  
“Oops, I’m sorry for interrupting your moment–” Sehun says, genuinely apologetic, “–but Baekhyun unnie, you’re up in five.”   
  
Baekhyun quickly dabs at the lone tear collected in the corner of her eye before it can ruin her makeup. “Got it, Sehun, thanks. I’ll be out in a moment.”   
  
When they’re left alone once again, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun just stands there looking at each other, though Kyungsoo can feel the shift in atmosphere between them. There’s a smile on Baekhyun’s lips, bright and genuine this time, and the tenseness in her shoulders is gone.   
  
“You should go. You’re the star of the show tonight, aren’t you?” Kyungsoo smiles back at her, and though he’s reluctant to allow her to step onto the stage, he knows there’s nothing he can do about it tonight, until he breaks the contract binding her to all her obligations here.   
  
“Yeah, I think I should.” She says, and then she’s heading out the door with her head held up high.  
  
No more words are exchanged between them, but Kyungsoo can see the way her eyes are shining, full of promise and perhaps something more.   
  
Kyungsoo is eager to stick around to find out.   
  
  


\--

  
  


**epilogue.**

  
  
Kyungsoo scrunches his nose as he steps into the apartment, trying to filter out as much of the pungent smell of paint as he can, and carefully treads past all the tools lying around on the floor. All that is forgotten when he finds his favourite person in the world standing in the middle of the hall, who’s currently ordering the other workers around and making sure they fit the beams in according to her specifications.  
  
He silently walks right up to her, and successfully elicits a squeal when he hugs her from behind, pressing a kiss to the curve of her shoulder. “Hi Baek, how are things going?”   
  
Baekhyun laughs and turns around in his arms to kiss him on the lips. “Good. The renovations are almost done.” She beams and lets her eyes wander around the house.  
  
Kyungsoo follows her line of sight and grins. “You’re putting your interior design course to good use, I see.”   
  
“Of course.” Baekhyun huffs, then sighs dreamily as she takes in the condition of the apartment again. “It’s all I’ve ever dreamt of doing, until I got sidetracked. And it’s all thanks to you.”   
  
“I told you I’ll do my best to make you happy.” Kyungsoo tells her seriously. “I’m not about to go back on my words now.”  
  
Baekhyun actually blushes at his words and buries her face in his chest, embarrassed. “Stop being so cheesy,” she hisses under her breath, but she can’t stop herself from giggling dizzily. “There are people watching.”   
  
Kyungsoo just hugs her tighter. “I don’t care. I don’t mind embarrassing myself in the eyes of the entire world for you.”   
  
Baekhyun looks up at him with a bright smile. “What am I ever going to do with you, Do Kyungsoo?”   
  
“Well…” Kyungsoo clears his throat and breaks their hug to fish something out of his pocket. Baekhyun gasps audibly at the sight of a small velvet box in the centre of his palm, and covers her mouth in surprise when he actually drops to his knee in full view of the construction workers. “You have the rest of your life to figure that out. Byun Baekhyun, I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while now, but will you marry me?”   
  
Baekhyun’s stunned speechless for a long moment, but then a mischievous smile finds its way to her lips. “What if I say no?”   
  
Kyungsoo shrugs. “Then I guess I’ll just have to pester you until you say yes. You know how persistent I can be.”   
  
There’s a short laugh, and then Kyungsoo finds himself getting dragged to stand, a soft pair of lips pressed firmly against his. He can make out the semblance of a smile on it, and the way Baekhyun says ‘yes’ against his mouth, and Kyungsoo doesn’t ever want to trade this moment for anything else in the world.


End file.
